Mike Vrabel has full control with the Patriots. Will it work out?
Here’s a statement I never thought I would make: This morning I listened to a podcasted hour of Jared Stillman’s show from yesterday. I saw that he and Ramon Foster were beefing on Twitter and wanted to go back and listen to what Stillman said on his show yesterday. What a time to be alive!
Anyway, at the beginning of the hour, he was talking about the fact that Ryan Cowden is joining Mike Vrabel with the New England Patriots. The significance to that is the fact that Vrabel wanted Cowden to be hired as the general manager with the Tennessee Titans after Amy Adams-Strunk fired Jon Robinson. That move would have pretty much given Vrabel total control here. Instead, AAS hired Ran Carthon and that was the beginning of the end for Vrabel with the Titans. In hindsight, AAS really should have either hired Cowden or fired Vrabel that offseason. She took the half measure. Does that sound familiar?
Now, three years later, Vrabel has gotten what he wanted with the Patriots. He’s the head coach and Cowden has a job in the front office. It’s Vrabel’s show. He will sink or swim as the guy who has the final say. AAS didn’t think Vrabel was ready for that much responsibility here. Robert Kraft has decided he is. In just a few short years we will have the answer on who was right.