Head coaches who are entering their second opportunity as a coach are pretty hit or miss. We saw how it ended for the Atlanta Falcons with Raheem Morris, but fans are hoping that Kevin Stefanski's first season in Atlanta is similar to Mike Vrabel's first season coaching the New England Patriots.
The Patriots finished with a bottom-five record in football in each of the last two football, but they turned things around basically overnight. Many fans expected the Pats to improve considerably and have a chance at the playoffs in 2025, but have instead exceeded every expectation under Vrabel.
Not only did New England finish with a 14-3 record and won the AFC East, they're playing for the Super Bowl tonight. Additionally, the 50-year-old was named the NFL's Coach of the Year, and is a victory over the Seattle Seahawks away from leading a promising, young roster to a Lombardi Trophy.
Stefanski is no stranger to Coach of the Year awards, having added two to his mantle in Cleveland, but his exit and hire by the Dirty Birds is starting to look eerily similar to Vrabel parlaying his exit in Tennessee into a better opportunity with a team he used to play for.
The similarities between Kevin Stefanski and Mike Vrabel are becoming impossible to ignore
Across his final two seasons with the Browns, the 43-year-old compiled an 8-26 record despite taking them to the playoffs in two of his first four seasons at the helm. Before Stefanski took over, the Browns were one of the NFL's most tortured franchises just like the Titans were before hiring Vrabel.
Vrabel led the Titans to four straight winning seasons (and three straight playoff appearances), but went 13-21 in his final two seasons before being fired. He also led Tennessee to the AFC Championship in 2020, so he had a lot more proven success than Stefanski before he was fired.
Vrabel accomplished more in the two seasons prior to his firing, but they both endured serious QB problems that contributed to the steep fall-off in the record department. Malik Willis and WIll Levis both struggled, while the Deshaun Watson trade completely crashed and burned for Cleveland.
Both Stefanski and Vrabel are no-nonsense coaches who were only fired to begin with because of disagreements with two of the more incompetent ownership groups in football, but that's neither here nor there. But like Vrabel, he's entering a much better situation to succeed in Atlanta.
This Falcons' roster has enough young talent to instantly compete, and like the Patriots, have a young QB they see as the face of the franchise. People have been quick to write Michael Penix Jr. off, but Stefanski's system is a perfect fit for Penix Jr. just like Josh McDaniels' scheme was for Drake Maye.
In Stefanski's defense, the Atlanta offense has better weapons than the ones Maye spent the season throwing to in New England, even if Penix hasn't been stellar through 14 starts. Both rosters have rising defenses, while both coaches brought back the culture that was invisible under the old regime.
It seems pretty unlikely that Stefanski takes the Falcons to the Super Bowl in his opening season, but Vrabel's stint with the Pats (and Maye coming up one vote short of MVP honors) is proof that the right head coach matters more than people realize--and anything can happen down the line.