Bears can cross Mike Vrabel off their candidate list following latest NFL firing

Jordan Campbell

Pittsburgh Steelers v Cleveland Browns / Kevin Sabitus/GettyImages

The path to the Chicago Bears landing Mike Vrabel as their next head coach may have become blocked after the New England Patriots wasted no time in firing first-year head coach Jerod Mayo on Sunday.

The Patriots have fired Jerod Mayo after just one season, per source.

After 24 years of Bill Belichick, New England will be looking for its third head coach in as many seasons. pic.twitter.com/trpTy4dbLt
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) January 5, 2025

The Patriots capped their season with a 23-16 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday but it was a year where the team went 4-13 in the first season of life without Bill Belichick. When Mayo was one of Belichick's assistants, there was language in his contract with the Patriots that made it clear he would be the team's head coach once Belichick was no longer in the role. Mayo being fired is only further proof that you never want to be the guy replacing the guy, you want to be the next one.

For the Patriots, the next one may be Mike Vrabel. Of his 14-year playing career, Vrabel spent 8 seasons in New England and was one of Belichick's assistants before taking the head coaching job with the Tennessee Titans.

Given the connections that Vrabel has with the Patriots, he has already become the frontrunner for the opening.

Have to imagine Mike Vrabel is the frontrunner for this one https://t.co/m9XGzNBr2q
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) January 5, 2025

After spending the 2024 season with the Cleveland Browns as a consultant, Vrabel was let out of his contract early last week to begin interviewing for head coaching vacancies. Vrabel interviewed with the New York Jets last week but the Bears have not begun the interview process.

With becoming increasingly likely that Ryan Poles will remain in place as the Bears' general manager, it is odd that the team has yet to start interviewing candidates. There's only a few select candidates that the Bears could have interviewed prior to the end of the regular season but not interviewing Vrabel seems to be a misfire. As of now, the Bears are expected to interview Vrabel at some point this week.

Jordan Campbell

For nearly 15 years, Jordan has been a workhorse across the FanSided network - including being the inaugural site expert for Cubbies Crib, as well as a stop at Da Windy City as the site expert. In addition to returning to be a Co-Site Expert at Cubbies Crib, Jordan was previously the Site Expert at Bear Goggles On. In the years since, Jordan has joined FanSided's full-time team, serving as a staff writer for the MLB division. Jordan's work can be seen across the MLB division, including a consistent presence on our Cubs, Twins, Astros, and Tigers sites. Since 2010, Jordan has dedicated his craft to providing insightful commentary on all things Chicago sports, and he has enjoyed his venture into all things Major League Baseball.