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Devin McCourty Revealed Bill Belichick's NFSW Reason for Believing in Mike Vrabel

Belichick had Vrabel tagged as a future NFL head coach a long time ago.

Liam McKeone

Vrabel was hired as the Patriots' head coach earlier this year
Vrabel was hired as the Patriots' head coach earlier this year / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Mike Vrabel was hired as head coach of the New England Patriots this offseason as the Kraft family continues to search for a true successor to Bill Belichick's throne. In Vrabel they have a disciple of sorts, a former player under Belichick who has since walked his own path as a coach. Which has been a fairly successful one; Vrabel boasts a career record of 54-45 after six years at the helm for the Tennessee Titans.

As it turns out, Belichick has long believed Vrabel had what it takes to be a successful head coach. Fellow former Patriot turned media member Devin McCourty appeared on Up & Adams with Kay Adams on Tuesday and revealed Belichick was asked which former player or coach he's worked with would make for a good head coach during a production meeting. He named Vrabel, and had an NSFW reason for doing so.

"I always remember when we went to the Super Bowl, Super Bowl LI during the 2016 season, I go to the production meeting with (Cris) Collinsworth and (Al) Michaels. Bill is still in there. One of them asked Bill, hey, what's a former player or a former coach that you think will be a good head coach if they get a opportunity? And he goes, 'Vrabel.' Says Vrabel right away. And he said because sometimes to be a good head coach in this league, you got to be a little bit of an a-hole. And Vrabel has plenty of that to pass around to his team."

So far it seems Belichick is right. Vrabel garnered a lot of acclaim as the Titans' head coach and the franchise's decision to fire him still puzzles to this day.

Little did Belichick know Vrabel would eventually take his spot on the Patriots' sideline.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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