New Team, Same Old Problems: Mike Vrabel’s Coaching Style Sparks Concern in New England
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel is already up to his old antics that he became so well-known for with the Tennessee Titans.
As good of a coach as Vrabel was/is, Titans fans continuously got frustrated with him for hiring his coaching staff from a network of people he had an existing working relationship with.
It’s not uncommon for coaches to hire people they know well. We see it almost every time a new head coach is hired. But over time, it became Vrabel’s most toxic trait. His kryptonite, despite a stellar resume. He gave jobs to coaches that were not qualified for them and he didn’t know when to let guys go.
Vrabel is now bringing the “buddy hire” philosophy with him to New England. The Patriots have already hired a number of Vrabel’s old staff members from Tennessee, but none of them are more eye-opening than Todd Downing.
Downing was hired by the Patriots on Monday to be the new wide receivers coach under OC Josh McDaniels.
Downing spent two seasons as Tennessee’s tight ends coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2021. Vrabel had made a habit of promoting his offensive coordinators from that same role.
Downing’s tenure as OC was a massive failure. The Titans offense plummeted from a top-five unit to the 17th-highest-scoring offense in two years. They floundered despite Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry and other key offensive play makers staying put after Arthur Smith’s departure.
In November 2022, Downing was at the center of controversy and made headlines for getting a DUI after drinking on the team plane. He was not fired by the team after the incident, but he was let go at the end of the season and later took a job with the New York Jets.
Hiring Downing as a wide receivers coach isn’t guaranteed to lead to failure for the Mike Vrabel Era in New England. Vrabel could have a lot more success with the Patriots then he did in Tennessee. Downing isn’t necessarily a bad hire, he was always a well-respected position coach.
However, Vrabel is already heading down a slippery slope that Titans fans are all too familiar with. It doesn’t seem like he has learned much from his first stint as an NFL head coach.
The grass is not always greener and the jury is still out on Brian Callahan, but Titans fans are happy to be done with the headache that is Vrabel’s hiring tendencies.
