Twelve months after being reintroduced at Gillette Stadium, Mike Vrabel has been named the 2025 Pro Football Writers of America’s NFL Coach Of the Year.
The New England Patriots head coach got the call on Thursday amid preparations for the AFC Championship Game. He did so while Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider and Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph were announced as the PFWA’s Executive of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, respectively.
Vrabel, 50, oversaw the turnaround of a team that went 4-13 in consecutive campaigns and hadn’t hosted a playoff game since January 2020, when he was on the visitors’ sideline. The three-time Super Bowl champion and Patriots Hall of Fame linebacker finished 14-3 during his inaugural regular season at the helm.
A 10-game win streak arrived along the way to clinching the AFC East as well as the No. 2 seed in the conference.
Since Vrabel became the third head coach in NFL history to win 14 games in his first year with a franchise, wins over the Los Angeles Chargers in the wild card and the Houston Texans in the divisional round have followed. With another Sunday at Mile High’s Empower Field versus the No. 1 seed, he would become the eighth coach in the league archives to lead his side to a Super Bowl appearance in his first year with a club.
Vrabel, who was previously voted PFWA Coach of the Year in 2021 while with the Tennessee Titans, stands as the eighth such recipient in Foxborough. Chuck Fairbanks in 1976, Raymond Berry in 1985, Ron Meyer in 1987, Bill Parcells in 1984, as well as Bill Belichick in 2003, 2007 and 2010 preceded him there.
The Patriots posted a plus-170 point differential and ranked second in the NFL with 490 points scored. The overhauled offense totaled 6,449 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns. And the overhauled defense allowed 18.8 points per game after finishing 2024 with 28 sacks and 12 takeaways while giving up 131.4 rushing yards per game.
Quarterback Drake Maye was selected to the PFWA’s All-AFC team earlier in the week, while running back TreVeyon Henderson and kicker Andy Borregales were both selected to the PFWA’s All-Rookie team.
Five Patriots also check in among the Associated Press finalists for February’s NFL Honors.
