Why Patriots' Mike Vrabel won AllSportsPeople Coach of the Year over Kyle Shanahan, Mike Macdonald

Mike Vrabel has pulled off an unique feat in the history of AllSportsPeople' NFL Coach of the Year. He has now won the award twice with two teams. 

Vrabel, for his work in his first season leading the New England Patriots, got the most votes from his coaching peers to stand out among them. By a slim margin of a handful of votes, Vrabel edged out the 49ers' Kyle Shanahan and the Seahawks' Mike Macdonald, who tied for second.

Thanks to Vrabel replacing Jerod Mayo, who lasted only one season, the Patriots have their worthy successor to Bill Belichick. Seven seasons after Belichick, with Tom Brady at quarterback, won his sixth and final Super Bowl with New England, Vrabel has the team back in contention for a ring, only with second-year No. 3 overall draft pick Drake Maye as the QB.

With Josh McDaniels back to help Vrabel and Maye coach and play, the Patriots' organization and fans feel like they might have a worthy new Belichick and Brady-like combination to add to their haul of Lombardi Trophies after a brief hiatus.

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Vrabel, who also won with the Titans in 2021, is the sixth coach win win multiple SN COTY awards with two or more teams, joining Don Shula (Colts, Dolphins), Chuck Knox (Rams, Bills, Seahawks), Dick Vermeil (Eagles, Rams) and Andy Reid (Eagles, Chiefs). That puts Vrabel in special company, hoping to enjoy the same future Super Bowl success as the legendary Shula and future Hall of Famer Reid.

The Patriots went from 4-13 in 2024 to 13-4 under Vrabel, an incredible and hard-to-beat 10-game turnaround. His defensive coaching influence was huge to help a young group while McDaniels took care of accelerating the development of Maye from promising rookie to established elite passer.

Vrabel won three Super Bowls playing for Belichick as an ace linebacker and sometimes red zone tight end. He is set up to become Belichick's most successful mentee on his tree.

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Why Mike Vrabel won Coach of the Year over Kyle Shanahan, Mike Macdonald

Shanahan, the 2019 AllSportsPeople Coach of the Year for his work turning the 49ers into a consistent NFC playoff force and Super Bowl contenders when healthy, gets a honorable mention for lifting an injury-riddled roster into a 12-5 NFC playoff team after a 6-11 washout of a season in 2024. But the six-game rebound still isn't too surprising given the level of talent and a more favorable schedule.

Macdonald, the more substance over style second-year coach of the Seahawks and 2023 AllSportsPeople Coordinator of the Year, pushed his team up from 9-8 to 14-3. He has put together a dominant defense after lifting the Ravens on that side of the ball. He also made a smart offensive coordinator hire, having Klint Kubiak replace Ryan Grubb after only one season for the latter.

There's a case the coach of the other NFC West team, the Rams, should have won his second award. But Sean McVay still has his one SN Coach of the Year from 2017 and has a long time to win more. Shanahan and Macdonald had the better turnaround stories. The Jaguars' Liam Coen and the Bears' Ben Johnson also had sensational rookie years for their teams.

Only Vrabel was trying follow in the big footsteps of Belichick, where Mayo failed just the season before. Coming up with so many wins while under so much pressure to be the savior is is difficult, even with the Patriots' schedule breaks. Vrabel has carried on the tradition of shrewd scheming and getting the most of players "doing their jobs", what he once did on the field for prime Belichick.

AllSportsPeople NFL Coach of the Year winners