John Streicher

Mike Vrabel Talks Patriots Front Office, Free Agency Approach, Browns Stint

February 26th, 2025 at 10:03pm CST by Ben Levine

Since the Patriots brought in Mike Vrabel as head coach, there’s been plenty of talk about who truly runs the show in New England. While executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf is expected to have a heavy hand in the roster’s construction, Vrabel acknowledged that he wouldn’t have taken the gig if he wasn’t going to have some say in building the roster.

“Well, I wouldn’t be here and I wouldn’t have wanted to be the head coach here if I wasn’t comfortable in my impact on the roster,” Vrabel told reporters (via Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald). “So we want to continue to have great conversations with the personnel staff, with me, with Stretch (John Streicher), with coaching. We’re all just trying to find ways to bring the right players in here, whether that’s the first part of free agency, [the] middle free agency like we talked about, or the draft. There’s going to be players who get released that we’ll have to pivot to and have options. So again, we need to strengthen the roster. We understand that. And have some really good conversations as to how we get there.”

Vrabel cited his right-hand man, John Streicher, adding another component to the organization’s murky front office hierarchy. For years, Bill Belichick ran the show, and when Wolf and former HC Jerod Mayo took over that responsibility in 2024, the organization revealed some troubling cracks in the foundation. The Patriots will continue to operate without a traditional GM in 2025, and it sounds like the organization may even be reverting back to their old ways by empowering the head coach to build the roster.

Whether it’s Vrabel, Wolf, or owner Robert Kraft making final calls on personnel, it sounds like there’s general agreement that the team will be actively adding to the roster this offseason. While speaking with reporters, Vrabel said he expects the Patriots to be “aggressive” in improving their team.

“I’m confident that we’ll be aggressive,” Vrabel said (via ESPN’s Mike Reiss). “We’ve started some of those discussions internally. We have to be ready to pivot and adjust and have a vision for each player at each level.

“There’s going to be this high level [financially] that things are going to get done very quickly. That will transition then to maybe some midrange dollars. And obviously you look at opportunity. Free agency gets broken down into compensation and opportunity. I feel like we’re in a position to offer both.”

With a league-leading ~$131MM in projected cap room, the Patriots should have more than enough financial wiggle room to add to their roster. Armed with the fourth-overall pick, the organization is also positioned to add a foundational piece in the draft, and there’s hope that the Patriots can take a leap with more talent (and a more experienced Drake Maye) in 2025.

While speaking with reporters today, Vrabel provided some more insight on his coaching free agency. While the former Patriots linebacker always seemed destined for New England, his outlook was a lot more unclear a year ago. The former Titans head coach spent the 2024 campaign serving as a coaching and personnel consultant with the Browns, but despite his experience, he wasn’t explicitely asked back for the 2025 campaign.

Vrabel said the Browns never approached him about a long-term role on the staff, but he admitted that he “would have listened” had they asked (via Tony Grossi of 850 ESPN Cleveland). Vrabel noted that he “didn’t have a job” heading into the 2025 offseason, although Cleveland’s approach was likely rooted in the assumption that Vrabel would ultimately land a HC job elsewhere.

While Vrabel apparently wants some control over building the roster, he won’t be micromanaging his defense. Despite his defensive expertise, the head coach said he plans to let defensive coordinator Terrell Williams call the plays on that side of the ball (via Kyed).

Patriots Hire Ashton Grant As QBs Coach, Make More Coaching Moves

February 1st, 2025 at 9:34am CST by Ben Levine

Mike Vrabel‘s staff in New England continues to take shape. Most notably, the Patriots have landed on a new QBs coach to work alongside Josh McDaniels and Drake Maye. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that the Patriots have hired Ashton Grant for the gig.

Grant has spent the majority of his coaching career in Cleveland, where he worked his way up from an offensive quality control coach to QBs coach. While Deshaun Watson‘s performance left plenty to be desired, Grant also earned praise for his handling of the rest of the depth chart (including Jameis Winston).

In New England, he’ll be taking over a QBs room that features a pair of young arms in Maye and Joe Milton. Grant is set to replace T.C. McCartney, who isn’t expected to return to the Patriots in a new role, per Mark Daniels of MassLive.com.

The Patriots weren’t finished making additions to their coaching staff. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, Jason Houghtaling is expected to join New England’s staff. Houghtaling was an OL coaching assistant on Vrabel’s staff in Tennessee before spending last season with the Bears. Elsewhere on offense, the team is bringing in Riley Larkin as an offensive assistant, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. Larkin most recently served as an offensive assistant in Ohio State’s quarterbacks room.

On the other side of the ball, Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston reports that former Titans defensive assistant Clint McMillan will also be following his former boss to New England. Further, Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports that the Patriots are expected to hire Bills nickels coach/senior defensive assistant Scott Booker. Following the theme, Booker previously worked Vrabel during the duo’s time with the Titans. Finally, while a deal hasn’t been finalized, the Patriots are targeting Colts assistant defensive backs coach Justin Hamilton for a role on their defensive staff, per Zenitz. Unsurprisingly, Hamilton was on the Titans staff in 2023.

As Vrabel crafts his first New England staff, he’ll also be saying goodbye to a handful of incumbent coaches. Most notably, Brian Belichick won’t be back with the Patriots in 2025, according to Reiss. The son of Bill Belichick, Brian spent the past five seasons coaching safeties in New England, including this past year working under a new boss in Jerod Mayo. Drew Wilkins, who most recently served as the Patriots outside linebackers coach, also isn’t expected to be retained (per Jones), and cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino won’t be back with the organization (per Reiss).

There is at least one coach who will be retained from last year’s staff. Former Giants head coach Ben McAdoo is expected to stick on Vrabel’s staff, per Reiss. McAdoo spent this past season as a senior offensive assistant, but Reiss notes that the coach’s title could change in 2025. Speaking of titles, the Patriots have also officially hired Vrabel’s right-hand man, John “Stretch” Streicher, who will serve as the team’s vice president of football operations and strategy (per Albert Breer of TheMMQB).

Mike Vrabel, Eliot Wolf Will Both Report To Patriots Ownership

January 23rd, 2025 at 7:31pm CST by Ben Levine

Since the Patriots hired Mike Vrabel as their head coach, there have been some questions regarding the organizational hierarchy. Despite the major changes, it sounds like the team’s operations should remain status quo. According to Albert Breer of SI.com, both Vrabel and executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf will report to ownership, an indication that there’s no singular leader in the front office.

When Vrabel was brought on, it was assumed that he’d have a major influence over player personnel. That will surely be the case, but it sounds like it will be a collaborative approach vs. the former totalitarian approach under Bill Belichick. While last season’s results left plenty to be desired, Breer notes that Wolf and former HC Jerod Mayo already started making an effort to build an actual football ops department, something that was sorely lacking.

The next step could see the Vrabel/Wolf duo look to improve the “player-development side” of operations. The Patriots had “next to nothing” in that regard under Belichick, meaning there was effectively nobody overseeing the development of bottom-of-the-roster players and practice squad players. The Patriots could also look to improve their football analytics/research department (with Marshall Oium a name to watch) and their sports science department.

Following a dismal season in New England, it was thought that Mayo may not be the only casualty. However, Breer notes that ownership was impressed by Wolf during his first season at the helm. The executive worked on “modernizing the scouting department” and building out football operations. Wolf’s strategy won’t be completely foreign to Vrabel; as Breer writes, Tennessee’s Chad Brinker had a similar Green Bay-centric grading system, so New England’s head coach is already familiar with the perspective.

Vrabel is also familiar with a handful of other members of New England’s front office. Ohio State alums Camren Williams and Pat Stewart are the Patriots college and pro scouting directors (respectively). In fact, Vrabel recruited Williams to the Buckeyes when he was on Ohio State’s staff. Of course, Vrabel has also influenced some new additions to the front office dynamic. Ryan Cowden, who previously held multiple high-ranking roles in the Titans front office, was brought over to New England earlier this offseason. Breer notes that Cowden will definitively be under Wolf in the franchise’s pecking order.

Vrabel also continues to add to his coaching staff. According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, Zak Kuhr has agreed to join the Patriots. Kuhr spent four seasons working under Vrabel in Tennessee, and he spent this past season on the Giants defensive coaching staff. Meanwhile, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic reports that John Streicher is also joining the staff in New England. “Stretch” spent this past year as the Rams game management coordinator, and he also has experience working alongside Vrabel in Tennessee.

The Patriots’ first season in their post-Belichick era revealed some major cracks in the organization’s foundation. While the team still isn’t operating with a traditional front office hierarchy, it doesn’t sound like there will be any power struggle between some of the team’s major voices.

Rams Finalize 2024 Coaching Staff

February 25th, 2024 at 9:00pm CST by Ely Allen

The Rams were one of several teams forced to reconstruct their coaching staff this offseason. While it’s always a challenge to replace staff, the Rams aren’t doing it because they needed to fire anybody, they’re simply replacing coaches who moved on to bigger jobs. Head coach Sean McVay is doing what he’s done year after year, bringing in a new staff that is sure to flourish under his tutelage.

On offense, we were already aware of the hires of quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone to replace Zac Robinson, senior offensive assistant Jerry Schuplinski, and offensive assistant and pass game specialist Nate Scheelhaase, though the “offensive assistant” part of that title is new information.

In addition, since the departed Robinson had held the title of pass-game coordinator, that moniker has transferred to tight ends coach Nick Caley. Lastly, with offensive assistants K.J. Black and Nick Jones following Robinson and former defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to Atlanta, Los Angeles has brought in former Jets quarterbacks coach Rob Calabrese as a new offensive assistant. Calabrese takes a step back after spending three years in his first NFL position coaching job.

The defensive side of the ball is where the most change will commence, since Morris departed to become the next head coach of the Falcons. We have already reported on Giff Smith‘s replacement of Eric Henderson as defensive line coach and run game coordinator and the hiring of former Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai as a senior defensive assistant, as well as the departure of assistant head coach Jimmy Lake, who left to become Morris’ defensive coordinator in Atlanta.

Los Angeles’ update informed us on some pending information for the rest of the defensive staff. First, we had heard that former Packers pass-game coordinator Greg Williams had interviewed for the Rams inside linebackers coaching job, and now we know that he has officially been hired for the role, replacing Chris Shula following his promotion to defensive coordinator. Formerly the secondary coach, Chris Beake‘s official title has been altered to safeties coach, and while assistant defensive line coach AC Carter interviewed for the position that went to Smith after Henderson’s exit, Carter will simply remain in his current role. Additionally, outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio, defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator Aubrey Pleasant, and defensive assistant Mike Harris have all been retained by Shula in their current roles.

Lastly, on special teams, the Rams hired Chili Davis as assistant special teams coach to replace Jeremy Springer, who departed to become special teams coordinator in New England. Davis will take his first NFL job after coaching for the last 11 years in various college gigs. Most recently, he served as special teams coordinator at Florida A&M in 2022 before going to Manhattan to serve as Kansas State’s special teams quality control coach. Also, on the coaching staff, John Streicher has been brought on board to serve as game management coordinator. Streicher spent the last six seasons in Tennessee, most recently serving as the Titans director of football administration.

There you have it: the 2024 coaching staff for the Rams. McVay is certainly used to shuffling his staff at this point in his career in Los Angeles. He was able to rebound from a rough 2022 season to get back to the playoffs, and with this new staff, he’ll try to get back to the pinnacle of the sport after winning it all in 2021.

AFC Notes: Raiders, Bills, Titans, Steelers

May 21st, 2023 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Last year, the Raiders offensive line was viewed as a major weakness, forcing Las Vegas to shuffle the depth chart until they found a workable solution. Oddly enough, though, by the end of the season, the team found a reliable starting five and some dependable reserves that didn’t blow anybody away but routinely got the job done. With the position no longer a weakness, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal posits that the Raiders may not have much urgency in addressing the position before next season.

Returning a likely starting five of Kolton Miller at left tackle, Dylan Parham at left guard, Andre James at center, Alex Bars at right guard, and Jermaine Eluemunor at right tackle, the Raiders don’t necessarily have any holes in the offensive line. Bonsignore asserts that the team still may look for potential upgrades from younger reserve linemen pushing for playing time or potential outside additions, if they present themselves, but right now, the team’s roster may be set after the recent additions of free agent Greg Van Roten and undrafted rookies McClendon Curtis and Dalton Wagner.

Here are a few other rumors from around the AFC:

The Bills made a number of moves within their scouting department this offseason. Formerly the team’s pro personnel director, Malik Boyd has been named senior personnel advisor in Buffalo. The former Vikings defensive back and veteran scout with personnel experience for the Colts and Cardinals will work as an executive scout in both pro and college mediums. Additionally, Chris Marrow and Curtis Rukavina have both been named co-directors of pro scouting. The two remain entwined after joining the team as pro scouts in 2017 and both working as assistant directors of pro scouting until their recent promotions.
With a new general manager in Ran Carthon, the Titans, too, have begun to make some front office adjustments, according to Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. Max Curtis has been named as the team’s new player personnel coordinator, being from promoted from dual roles last year as coordinator of football administration and executive assistant to the executive vice president and general manager. Bryce Wasserman will now be the Titans’ director of team strategy after serving last year as staff counsel. Lastly, a football development coordinator last year, John Streicher will now be in the role of director of football administration.
Finally, the Steelers have poached a scout from the in-state Eagles, according to Colin Dunlap of 93.7 The Fan, Pittsburgh. After five years as an area scout for Philadelphia, Jim Ward will cross the state to serve a similar role in Pittsburgh.