There were a multitude of deserving candidates for the Coach of the Year award, and you really couldn’t go wrong with either one of them. But Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots, who are representing the AFC in Super Bowl 60 on Sunday, took home the hardware.
It’s the second time in his career that he’s won the award, after taking it in 2021 during his six-year stint as the Tennessee Titans’ head coach.
Patriots Players Express Gratitude for Mike Vrabel Ahead of Super Bowl
After being announced as the winner of the award at the NFL Honors on Thursday night, Vrabel became one of seven head coaches throughout league history to do so multiple times. He joins Chuck Knox, Don Shula, George Allen, Dan Reeves, Bruce Arians, and Bill Parcells.
The 50-year-old Vrabel received 19 of a possible 50 first-place votes, just barely edging out Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Liam Coen’s 16. Other candidates included Mike MacDonald from the Seahawks, Ben Johnson from the Chicago Bears, and Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers. Each potential recipient had a formidable case.
In a video posted to X Thursday night, a handful of Patriots players expressed gratitude to Vrabel.
A shoutout to Coach Vrabel from the players ❤️ @Patriots pic.twitter.com/41UdLWmspW
— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2026
“Coach,” said second-year quarterback Drake Maye. “Just appreciate you for changing this year, changing this franchise, changing this organization.”
Vrabel, who is in his first season as the Patriots’ head coach, helped engineer a complete turnaround from the 4-13 squad a season ago. The Patriots finished 13-4 and won the AFC East, narrowly missing out on the conference’s No. 1 seed. Instead, that went to the Denver Broncos, but it was the Patriots who toppled them in the AFC Championship Game.
Vrabel enjoyed a 14-year playing career in the NFL before venturing into coaching, including an eight-year stint as a linebacker for the Patriots, where he won three Super Bowls and appeared in four.
“The things you taught this team, and individually, it’s been everything and more,” said linebacker K’Lavon Chaiison.
Harold Landry has spent virtually the entire career to this point playing for Vrabel. Not long after Vrabel was hired by the Titans, they spent a second-round pick on Landry in 2018. The Patriots signed him this past offseason as a member of their star-studded free-agent class.
“I haven’t met a more influential coach in my life than him,” Landry said.
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Along with Landry, the Patriots also signed cornerback Carlton Davis III, and he started all 17 regular-season contests, including all three playoff games. After going the entire year without an interception, Davis registered two during the Patriots’ playoff run en route to the Super Bowl.
“You know, he’s more than just a player’s coach,” Davis said. “He’s actually in it with you. He makes you feel as if your problems are his problems.”
The Patriots’ growth in 2025 under Vrabel was astonishing. In 2024, New England ranked 26th in the NFL with a PFSN Offense Impact score of 67.6. That ranking skyrocketed to second overall in 2025, as the Patriots finished behind only the Los Angeles Rams for the best offense in the league, scoring 86.6, an almost 20-point increase.
While not as good as the offense, the defense also saw an impressive improvement in PFSN’s Defense Impact Metric.
In 2024, under Mayo, the unit scored a 66.1, ranking them 30th in the league. Under Vrabel, the Patriots saw their score increase to 78.2 and their ranking rise to 12th. The improvement is easy to see and paints a clear picture of why Vrabel won NFL Coach of the Year.
