Report: Jets Made 'Last-Second Call' In Hopes Of Luring Patriots Head Coach To NY

Well, it was worth a try, right?
Jan 13, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; Mike Vrabel addresses media at a press conference to announce his hiring as the head coach of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images
Jan 13, 2025; Foxborough, MA, USA; Mike Vrabel addresses media at a press conference to announce his hiring as the head coach of the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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Finding a new head coach in the NFL is difficult. So there's nothing worse than feeling as though you have the perfect person for the job and seeing them choose a rival instead.

The New York Jets experienced that recently with Mike Vrabel, the longtime New England Patriots linebacker who accepted the head coaching gig with his former team over the weekend.

While the Patriots acted quickly to hire Vrabel after firing coach Jerod Mayo at the end of the season, the Jets had an opening for months, having fired Robert Saleh in October. They had identified Vrabel early on as a top potential candidate, and it seems that if the Patriots job hadn't become open, they might have had a realistic shot to hire him.

It's hard to pass up the chance to coach your former team, and Vrabel may have always been destined to coach the Patriots, who didn't know he would be available last offseason when the Tennessee Titans let him go. But the Jets, it appears, still tried all they could to get in the mix.

According to SNY's Connor Hughes, the Jets made an eleventh-hour call to Vrabel just before he accepted the Patriots job to try and sway him to coach in New York.

"The Jets desperately need someone to change their culture and instill a disciplined mindset that’s been sorely lacking for a decade-plus," Hughes wrote.

"Vrabel would have been perfect to do that. That’s why the Jets did everything they could to hire him – including a last-second call before he took the Patriots job."

In six seasons as the Titans' head coach, Vrabel went 54-45 in the regular season and 2-3 in the playoffs, resulting in an AFC Championship Game appearance in 2019. The Jets, of course, have not appeared in a playoff game since 2010, the longest drought in the sport.

The Jets shot their shot, and it wasn't good enough. There are still plenty of good candidates available on the market, but it will be crucial for New York to pick the right fit to compete with Vrabel and the rest of the AFC East.

More NFL: Jets Predicted To Bring Back Beloved 3-Time Pro Bowler As Next Head Coach


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Jackson Roberts
JACKSON ROBERTS

Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "New York Jets On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org