"I missed it like hell": Mike Vrabel admits he was itching to be a head coach again before Patriots reunion

Following his exit from the Tennessee Titans at the end of a disappointing 2023 NFL season, Mike Vrabel astonishingly did not get a new job and instead watched from the sidelines for a year. The former Coach of the Year spent the 2024 season as a coaching and personnel consultant for the Cleveland Browns. However, the limited role didn't bring any fulfillment.

Vrabel let teams know that he intended to become a head coach again, and the New England Patriots wasted no time and hired the franchise icon a week after their final regular-season game. It was a relief for the 49-year-old, who seemingly did not enjoy the year off.

On Thursday's "Green Light with Chris Long" podcast, the host asked Vrabel whether a year from the sidelines helped recharge his batteries. The Patriots head coach answered affirmatively before revealing he was itching to resume the grind:

"People always ask me, like, Oh, what'd you learn?' Well, I learned that I missed it like hell, like there's nothing else that I want to do that, that's what I learned. And once you realize what you really want to do in life, you'll figure out ways to make that happen.

"And obviously I learned other things, but I learned how, how badly I missed it, and how badly I wanted to continue to do it." [From 1:26]

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Why didn't the Patriots hire Mike Vrabel ahead of the 2024 season?

After the Patriots parted ways with head coach Bill Belichick after the 2023 season, it seemed like a no-brainer decision for the franchise to replace him with Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel helped the franchise win three Super Bowls and become a dynasty before putting the nail in its coffin in the 2019 playoffs. The Titans handed New England a defeat in the wild card round, which later proved to be Tom Brady's final game for the team.

However, the Patriots gave the job to Jerod Mayo, who had no head coaching experience. Owner Robert Kraft had handpicked him as Belichick's successor and put a clause in his contract that he'd become the head coach once they decided to switch.

New England likely did not anticipate Vrabel getting fired from his role as the Titans' head coach when they hired Mayo under the pretense that he'd replace Belichick. It took them one season to give up on the experiment and hand the keys to the castle to the franchise icon.

Vrabel's return to the Patriots may have taken a year longer than most expected but he now gets a crack at helping rebuild the dynasty that he helped create and destroy.