Cassel: Vrabel will ‘make his presence felt’ with Pats front office originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel as their new head coach, and we shouldn’t have to wait long before he starts making changes to the team.
Vrabel is known for being a tough, straightforward coach. He holds his players accountable and expects a high level of performance across the organization.
One key thing to watch is how Vrabel will work with the front office, especially with Eliot Wolf, the executive vice president of player personnel.
It’s well known that Wolf and his team haven’t done well in picking good players through the NFL Draft or free agency. Many believe the Patriots have one of the weakest rosters in the league.
How much influence Vrabel will have in making roster decisions is still unclear, but according to his former teammate Matt Cassel, the new coach won’t hesitate to speak his mind.
“He’s a guy that’s not going to hold any punches,” Cassel said. “He doesn’t care about your feelings. He’s going to get it right. And so that will be an interesting dynamic to see how it all goes with Eliot Wolf and everybody else in that organization, because he will be the clear, defined leader.
“And I don’t think that he takes this job unless that was expressed to him that he’s going to have most of the control over this roster, over big decisions being made. That’s really, I feel, the only way this works.
“Because when you come into a situation and you’ve got a GM in place or a player personnel guy and a new head coach, you have to make him feel comfortable that the decisions that are going to be made are going to be decisions that he wants the organization to go directionally.
“And Mike, again, the one thing I’ll say, he doesn’t lack confidence. He knows what he wants to do and he’s going to go in and make his presence felt right away.”
The Patriots have a lot of areas to improve on, especially on offense. It’s very important for the team to get quarterback Drake Maye more help at the skill positions and along the offensive line.
Cassel, who played with Vrabel for six seasons in New England (2005-08) and Kansas City (2009-10), believes Vrabel will be able to help bring in players to New England. Plus, the Patriots are expected to have the most salary cap space of any team, around $130 million.
“I think (Maye) impressed everybody, and he was above and beyond where I thought he was going to be this season, particularly with the roster on the offensive side of the ball and this offensive line,” Cassel said. “I think that’s where you have to start if you’re the Patriots, and they’ve got the money to address it this offseason.
“Bringing in a guy like Mike Vrabel, who’s not only respected as a player but also as a coach, and he’s had success in the league, I think for namesake alone, he’s going to be able to recruit guys to come and play for him. Anybody that you talk to in the Tennessee Titans organization, they loved him as the head coach.
“They thought he was a guy that came in, gave them stability, had great messaging, and at the same time, he was somebody that led in a way that understood the player. When they needed a little bit of time off, he gave them that.
But he also coached them hard, held them accountable. He understands what he wants to do with this team, and I think that they’ll be able to turn around pretty quickly.”
