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Mike Vrabel is focused on winning his first Super Bowl as a head coach, but he was already honored this week in San Francisco.
The New England Patriots head coach was named NFL Coach of the Year Honors on Thursday night.
Vrabel won the award over his opponent Sunday in Super Bowl LX, Mike Macdonald of the Seattle Seahawks, Kyle Shanahan of the San Francisco 49ers, Liam Coen of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
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New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel celebrates after the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field At Mile High on January 25, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
This is the second time in Vrabel’s coaching career that he has won the award. He received 19 of the 50 first-place votes and earned a total of 302 points.
Vrabel first won the award while leading the Tennessee Titans in 2021.
Vrabel is now the seventh coach to win the Coach of the Year award for multiple franchises, joining Chuck Nox, Bill Parcells, Bruce Arians, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and George Allen.
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When the Titans left, Vrabel didn’t take a job elsewhere in the NFL. Instead, he waited a year and the Patriots moved on after just one season under Jerod Mayo.
The Patriots had just won four games for the second straight season, and it’s their first without Bill Belichick at the helm. So owner Robert Kraft opted for another familiar face and former Super Bowl champion, this time with head coaching experience.
Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots talks with Drake Maye #10 during the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette Stadium on September 7, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Under his tutelage this season, Vrabel led the Patriots to a 14-3 regular-season record, tied for the best record in the NFL. It’s the biggest single-season turnaround in NFL history, tied with the 1999 Indianapolis Colts and 2008 Miami Dolphins, who also saw 10-win improvements.
Vrabel was also able to see a perfect 9-0 road record, including the playoffs, becoming the first NFL team in history to do so.
Vrabel, of course, would point to his team when talking about his candidacy, but he would do well to look to quarterback Drake Maye, an MVP finalist at Thursday night’s NFL Honors, with him. Maye, in just his second season, showed why he was one of UNC’s top options with his consistency, poise and playmaking abilities under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’ scheme.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel watches during the first half of the AFC Championship NFL football game against the Denver Broncos, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Vrabel and the Patriots have not yet completed their 2025 NFL season. They still have one game left: Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, where Vrabel hopes to lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time since he last touched it as a Patriots linebacker in 2004.
