At the start of a week all about names, one was noticeably absent from Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel’s messaging during his NFL Combine press conference: Eliot Wolf.
Vrabel didn’t once namecheck New England’s executive vice president of player personnel, which seems noteworthy when compared to the six times Vrabel referenced Wolf in his introductory press conference in January.
Six weeks later, New England’s prodigal son presented like a man who knows he’s in the driver seat of this franchise, from coach appointments to decisions about filling out the roster.
It’s impossible to speculate how much power Vrabel wields, or his messaging, without comparing him to his predecessor, Jerod Mayo – especially because both head coaches were hired with Wolf on the payroll. Mayo painted himself into a corner early on in his tenure, stating his intention to “burn some cash” on players. It became the first of countless remarks he had to publicly walk back days, and sometimes hours, later. Mayo promised to knock down silos within the Patriots and collaborate, but what was born out was an organization mired in miscommunications and mistakes.
Instead of walking anything back, Vrabel sounds like a guy who was buttoned up a month ago, but is now loosening his tie, rolling up his cuffs, and talking frankly.
He provided a glimpse at how differently coaches and scouts judge players, noting he wants his coaches to have input:
“I want them to be included in those conversations. The one thing I’ve learned as a head coach is, there’s always going to be players that head coaches covet, and there’s going to be players that scouts covet for certain reasons, and they call them traits, and all this other stuff. And coaches want players that they can trust. When we come across those players, I always chuckle, because being a position coach, I’m like, oh yeah, this guy is going to love this guy. And then the scouts are going to love this guy, and they’re going to sit there and argue. I see that come up, and I can appreciate that.”
Vrabel sounds all coach, but also like the mediator between these two sides. Let the guys in sweats and visors make their case, and then let’s give the nerds a chance, too. He sounds bemused by both approaches to talent evaluation, knowing he gets to make the final call on who will get into his locker room.
He was equally transparent discussing Josh McDaniels’ return as offensive coordinator. When asked about McDaniels, he noted that while he consulted in Cleveland last season, the two “had numerous conversations.” After interviewing multiple candidates (the league mandates teams interview at least two diverse candidates for coordinator positions), McDaniels got his job back. It sure sounds like Vrabel started scouting his choice for offensive coordinator months before he was hired by New England, suggesting a certain amount of latitude he was granted from the get-go.
He spoke in a similar way about free agency, and the realities of landing elite talent on the open market.
“It’s free agency. Everybody overspends sometimes in free agency,” he said.
Vrabel further disclosed his coaching staff has already evaluated free agents and turned in “reports” on available players, and that they’ll do something similar ahead of the draft.
The day after he fired Mayo, Patriots owner Robert Kraft was asked about the power the next head coach would have when it came to personnel.
“Obviously, he's going to have big input on who the players are and who the coaches are. It'll be his decision,” he answered.
It will be fascinating to hear how Wolf frames his role in the Patriots’ rebuild when he addresses media Wednesday. For now, it looks like Mike Vrabel is top dog.