A remarkable revival in New England has earned Mike Vrabel the league’s top coaching honor.
The Patriots head coach was named the 2025 AP NFL Coach of the Year on Thursday night at NFL Honors in San Francisco, recognizing a first season that reshaped the franchise and put it back on the sport’s biggest stage. Vrabel received 19 first-place votes and 302 total points, edging Jaguars head coach Liam Coen in a tightly contested race. Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, Bears coach Ben Johnson and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan rounded out the top five.
In his first year at the helm, Vrabel engineered one of the most dramatic turnarounds in NFL history. New England finished the regular season 14-3, a 10-win improvement over its 4-13 record in 2024 — a jump tied for the largest ever by a team with a new head coach, according to NFL Research.
Vrabel accomplished the feat with a retooled roster that featured several new contributors, multiple rookie starters and second-year quarterback Drake Maye, who flourished under the new regime. The Patriots offense finished second in the league in scoring at 28.8 points per game and third in total offense, while the defense also surged, ranking fourth in points allowed and eighth in total yards allowed.
The 2025 Patriots were defined by consistency and dominance. They rattled off a 10-game winning streak from Weeks 4 through 13, avoided consecutive losses all season and went undefeated on the road during the regular season. The run culminated in New England’s first AFC East title since 2019 and the conference’s No. 2 seed.
Vrabel’s return to Foxborough was billed as a homecoming — a former Patriots linebacker and three-time Super Bowl champion coming back to restore a proud franchise. One year in, the results have exceeded even lofty expectations. New England now stands one win away from its seventh Lombardi Trophy, with Vrabel becoming just the eighth head coach in league history to reach the Super Bowl in his first season with a team. His 17 total wins in 2025 are tied for the most ever by a first-year coach with a franchise.
Thursday’s honor marked the second AP NFL Coach of the Year award for Vrabel, who previously won in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans. This time, the accolade reflects not only a turnaround, but the reestablishment of the Patriots as one of the NFL’s elite.
