University of Kwazulu-Natal

How Drake Maye Caused Mike Vrabel To Make A Major Life Decision

Bonisiwe Shabane
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how drake maye caused mike vrabel to make a major life decision

Mike Vrabel spent the 2024 season serving as a consultant with the Cleveland Browns before he became the top candidate of last winter's head-coach hiring cycle. While numerous stories at the time linked Vrabel with the Las Vegas Raiders, it's now known that he always intended to become the New England Patriots' next head coach following the rookie season of... Under Vrabel and Maye, the Patriots improved to 9-2 on the season via a 27-14 win over the New York Jets on Thursday night. After that victory, Vrabel opened up about the events that led him back to New England during the offseason. "I came here because of the familiarity," Vrabel explained, per Chris Mason of MassLive. "I came here because of Drake.

I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach. And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us." Vrabel and quarterback Tom Brady earned three Super Bowl rings as teammates with the Patriots from 2001-08.

While Vrabel was inducted into the Patriots' Hall of Fame in the fall of 2023, that was before Brady was officially approved as a minority owner of the Raiders. Send this article to your social connections. Send this article to your social connections. In case you forgot, or didn’t know, Thursday’s Jets-Patriots game was a matchup between the two teams that were most interested in Mike Vrabel this past offseason. If Thursday was any indication, Vrabel’s decision was validated by the top reason he decided to go to New England. Following the Patriots’ 27-14 victory over the Jets, Vrabel pointed to Drake Maye for the reason he wound up with New England.

“I came here because of the familiarity. I came here because of Drake,” the Patriots head coach told Prime’s “TNF Postgame Show.” “I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach. And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us.”

The New England Patriots were atop the NFL for nearly two decades. While fans debate whether it was more Bill Belichick or Tom Brady, the truth is the two formed an almost unstoppable duo, winning six Lombardi trophies together. When Brady hit free agency in 2020, his relationship with Belichick had deteriorated to the point where a return seemed unlikely. Belichick couldn’t maintain the same level of success without his franchise quarterback, and the team and Hall of Fame coach parted ways after the 2023 season. Now, the Patriots have hired a familiar face as their new coach—and he’s fired up to work with his new quarterback. Mike Vrabel is no stranger to New England.

He played on those Super Bowl teams with Brady and Belichick for eight seasons. Most recently, he was head coach of the Tennessee Titans and built a reputation as a no-nonsense guy. His former players even warned the Patriots that he’d be tough—but worth it. After a rough 4-13 finish in 2023, the Patriots selected quarterback Drake Maye out of North Carolina. Maye recently said that Vrabel isn’t in New England to stage a slow rebuild. He has “energy” and is “fired up” to bring change.

“I think he’s excited to work with me. He’s excited to get things back at a place he played, up there with the Patriots, get things back kind of in line and on the right path,” Maye told Kay Adams. The Mike Vrabel era in Foxborough couldn’t have gotten off to a much faster start. Following Thursday night’s 27-14 win over the Jets, the Patriots are riding an eight game winning streak and own the NFL’s best record at 9-2. Beyond that, Drake Maye has taken a leap forward. The second-year quarterback is playing MVP-caliber football and is being serenaded by the Gillette Stadium crowd accordingly.

With a number of enticing openings in last year’s hiring cycle, Vrabel ultimately chose to coach in New England. On Amazon’s Thursday Night Football postgame show, Vrabel said his 23-year-old quarterback was a major factor in that decision. “I came here because of the familiarity. I came here because of Drake,” Vrabel said. “I knew what he would be, and it was important for me to come here. And that’s someone I wanted to coach.

And so building a program is about that. It’s about putting great people around your really good players. That’s what Drake is for us.” Sitting right next to Vrabel on the postgame panel, Maye certainly appreciated hearing that from his coach. After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the pressure was high on Patriots' owner Robert Kraft to bring in the right head coach this offseason. The hype surrounding new head coach Mike Vrabel five months after his hiring is a reflection that Kraft made the right decision.

Not just for the organization as a whole, but also for its potential franchise quarterback. Drake Maye was not set up to succeed as a rookie, but his potential often provided glimpses of hope. Heading into the 2025 season, the optimism around the Patriots is as high as it's been in recent memory. The organization did its job in surrounding Vrabel and Maye with the right coaches and players to assure the Patriots are competitive again, and now all that's left is for the team to prove... One constant presence during the Patriots' dynasty days was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. When he left to coach the Raiders after the 2021 season, the offense plummeted under the leadership of Matt Patricia and Bill O'Brien.

Bringing in McDaniels was the X-factor in terms of the coaching staff around Vrabel that could be the icing on the cake for the Patriots. Let's not forget that defensive coordinator Terrell Williams shares a similar mindset to Vrabel's in terms of his old-school coaching approach. Williams' defense will keep the Patriots in just about every game. Mike Vrabel is already having to walk back comments just days away from the New England Patriots' second preseason game of the exhibition season. Following New England's dominant win over the Washington Commanders in their preseason opener, the Patriots' head coach was fixated on a turnover committed by starting QB Drake Maye on the team's first possession of... Rather than getting rid of the ball and moving on, Maye attempted to make something happen and wound up fumbling the football.

Washington recovered that fumble, and Vrabel was not happy about it. “That’s a bad decision,” Vrabel said, per Karen Guregian of MassLive. “I think we’re going to need better from him. I think he knows that. That’s obvious. It wasn’t there.

We just have to find a way to get rid of the football or take a sack and punt and play defense.” On Wednesday, Vrabel spoke again about Maye's decision-making and leadership qualities, but this time he went with a different tone, via Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. Mike Vrabel says Drake Maye isn’t lacking in leadership, he always just wants more from every player.Vrabel: “There’s no finished products, no matter what.” FOXBOROUGH - The coach/quarterback dynamic is an important one. When it comes to Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye, it might be best to describe it as developing. Following Wednesday’s Day 1 practice, Maye provided some insight on the relationship.

He talked about how Vrabel has gone about leading his quarterback, but also letting him learn by trial and error. “He does a great job of giving me points where I can improve, points where, ‘hey, maybe do this,’'’ Maye explained. ”I think he’s also kind of letting me go, kind of seeing where I’m at. And I think it’s kind of a challenge for me to kind of lead this football team and lead this offense." In terms of points Vrabel has stressed, Maye’s penchant for giving up on plays, and taking off to run is high on the list. Remember Malcolm Butler, undrafted and unknown, stepping into that ‘Super Bowl XLIX’ moment?

That electrifying instinct, that read? Robert Spillane brought that same disruptive energy to Patriots practice on Friday. Only this time, it wasn’t a game-winning interception in Glendale. It was Day 4 of training camp in Foxborough, and the target wasn’t Russell Wilson anymore – it was the future of the franchise. Drake Maye. If you thought Mike Vrabel’s defense would ease into things, think again.

Buckle up. “It was basically uh a dry run for a regular padded training camp practice,” CLNS Media’s Greg Bedard observed. “We even had uh some one-on-ones between the offensive line and defensive line.” Vrabel, true to his word after a lighter walkthrough, slammed the accelerator. “Mike Vrabel definitely backed up what he said the other day… they were going to ramp it up today uh before the off day and they did that.” This wasn’t recess; it was reconnaissance... And Spillane? He arrived locked, loaded, and aiming squarely at Maye’s comfort zone.

“As far as how the offense did today. I would say it was inconsistent.” 🏈DeMario Pops Off 🏈Drake Maye unleashes the deep ball 🏈Inconsistent offense 🏈Robert Spillane stands out@GregABedard recaps Day 4 of of Patriots Training Camp on @PatriotsCLNS: https://t.co/kbYLcI5d3g pic.twitter.com/1T85XSPrny — Patriots on CLNS (@PatriotsCLNS) July 27, 2025 New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye was far from perfect during the team’s Week 1 loss against the Las Vegas Raiders. Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel explained during an appearance Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” why he actually doesn’t want the second-year signal-caller to be “perfect.”

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