The Mayo experiment is over.
Almost as soon as the season was over, so was Jerod Mayo’s tenure as the head coach of the New England Patriots.
As a result, all eyes are now on who will be the next head coach of the Patriots.
The answer to that question seems likely to be either Ben Johnson or Mike Vrabel.
So, in this article, I will give my opinion on the two candidates and what direction I think the Pats should go in.
Option One – Mike Vrabel
Vrabel is a former Patriot as a player, who has coaching experience both in college and the NFL.
Bringing him in would provide the Pats with someone who has head coaching experience, is a commanding presence – due to his physical stature and personality – and had Super Bowl success as a player.
This type of head coach has historically been quite popular through NFL history, but it does mean that his success with the Patriots would be predicated on his leadership and his coordinator hiring.
Which coordinators he brings with him are almost as important as his hire itself. This is because Vrabel, himself, does not bring an immediate schematic advantage.
However, if he is able to bring with him talented coordinators, coupled with his prior NFL head coaching experience, this could be a great combination for a team that lacked this in 2024.
Option Two – Ben Johnson
Speaking of schematic advantage, that segues us into our next candidate.
Ben Johnson is the current offensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, and one of the most impressive offensive minds in the game.
I have had a lot of fun watching Johnson’s offensive scheme and admiring all of the wrinkles over the past few days, and the concept of pairing him with Drake Maye is incredibly exciting to me.
I am also always going to be more in favour of a schematic guru, like Johnson, at head coach, as I mentioned in a previous article. This is largely because even if he struggles with some of the more macro elements of being a head coach, he is still provides an elite offensive system and play calling.
Additionally, hiring someone like Johnson would also mean that we do not have to be concerned about losing your offensive savant to another team. This would be a concern, should you hire a CEO style head coach, who brings in a talented offensive coordinator.
I do think that the best path forward is to pair Johnson with an experienced defensive coordinator.
The big knock on Johnson is that he does not have any experience in the big chair. However, I think that this could be easily combated by ensuring that he is surrounded by more experienced assistant coaches, who can provide guidance in those areas.
