When the New England Patriots relieved Jerod Mayo of his duties as head coach on Sunday, two coaches immediately emerged as candidates to replace him: Mike Vrabel and Ben Johnson.
Vrabel, a Patriots Hall of Famer, is widely considered the frontrunner for the position due to his history with the organization and previous head coaching experience. Johnson, currently the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, is renowned as arguably the best play-caller in the league.
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Both are quality candidates for the Patriots head coaching job, though they bring very different qualities to the table. Phil Perry and Underdog Fantasy's James Palmer discussed the differences between Vrabel and Johnson while explaining why Vrabel has the edge during the latest episode of the Next Pats Podcast.
🔊 Next Pats Podcast: Why Mike Vrabel has a REAL advantage over Ben Johnson in Patriots search | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
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"I was speaking to a head coach that's gonna get his second go around. They're pretty in vogue in this cycle, guys getting their second chance at a head coaching spot," Palmer said. "I was talking to one of these guys this past weekend, and he said, 'This is no slight to Ben Johnson at all. He's the best play-caller in football, in my opinion, but there is zero chance him or anybody coming into their first year as a head coach will be the exact same play-caller they are as a coordinator. It's impossible.'
"I asked him why and he said, 'Because there's just not enough hours in the day anymore.' And you mentioned Ben Johnson being that door-kind-of-closed, tinkering, mad scientist. That is who he is if you talk to people in Detroit. So he would have to expand these other aspects. But the way this guy's describing it is, there's a knock on your door every five minutes whether it's a coordinator, position coach, the PR team, the training staff with injuries. There's so many other things that go into it. You just can't have the time to be the same play-caller you were when you were just a coordinator."
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Palmer went on to explain why Vrabel's six years of NFL head coaching experience gave him a sizable advantage over Johnson during the interview process.
"When these guys like Vrabel and others that have been through it as a head coach before in the past, there's many more boxes checked on time management, on the ability to handle the week," he added.
"Now, Ben Johnson it's no slight to him. You can learn those on the job. A lot of guys have. Kevin O'Connell, (Matt) LaFleur, (Sean) McVay, Kyle Shanahan. You just have to know that that's part of what you're getting, that those boxes aren't checked. I think they're just already checked with Mike, then you're gonna have to look at Mike's staff as well."
Vrabel and Johnson lead a growing list of Patriots candidates that also includes Aaron Glenn, Pep Hamilton, and Byron Leftwich.
Also in the episode:
- Assessing how Vrabel will handle the media
- Is Ben Johnson ready to be a head coach in the NFL?
- Should the Mayo firing have been done differently?
