“I’m a fan of this team first, and now, I have to go out and find a coach who can get us back to the playoffs and hopefully championships,” said the Patriots owner Robert Kraft after firing the HC Jerod Mayo. While the search for a worthy head coach goes on, Rob Gronkowski—a former Patriots player—believes the team has some choices.

On the January 8 episode of Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams, Gronk name-dropped the best two coaches for the Pats. He stated:

“Mr. Kraft has to think that something else out there that’s better for the organization or else he would have never fired coach Jerod Mayo and he said it was one of the toughest firings he ever had to do, one of the toughest situations because everyone loves Jerod Mayo…”

“But obviously at the coaching point, you are trying to win as an organization. You are trying to get the best coach in there to do that and get the wins, get back to the playoffs as a team. So, Mr. Kraft must feel like there is a better option out there. A guy like Mike Vrabel, who’s a proven coach, who’s been with the Tennessee Titans and did a great job there.”

Just like Mayo, Vrabel too has a long history of playing for the Patriots as a linebacker. However, as the Titans HC, he took them to playoffs in three of six seasons from 2018 to 2023. He showed promise from the start, with his rookie coaching year ending in a 9-7 win-loss record. That’s much better than a 4-13 record. The second choice is Lions’ OC Ben Johnson.

He has become the talking point of the league, particularly because of their O-line. While praising Johnson, Rob Gronkowski said, “Look at offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. He’s a hot candidate as well right now. What he’s doing with the Detroit Lions and that offense is spectacular. They are breaking records and doing things you have never seen before with trick plays and using guys you know the way that he’s been using them to get open and all that good stuff.”

Johnson has done wonders for the Lions. But the big question remains.

Can he survive as a head coach? We’ve seen rookie coaches crumble. Jerod Mayo learned under Bill Belichick for five seasons. But he failed in his first year. Nevertheless, Gronk believed these two are the best options available and added, “If they get one of those two guys, Mike Vrabel or OC Ben Johnson, I feel like the Krafts will be happy. Then also, the New England Patriots fans would be happy.”

That’s right. The owner and the fans want the same things. Trophies!

Being the head coach of the Patriots is an enormous responsibility. Considering six Super Bowls in 20 years that Tom Brady and Belichick won at the franchise, merely expecting someone to repeat it, is a burden too heavy to handle. Though Gronk himself suggested both names, he wasn’t happy with Mayo’s firing.

Rob Gronkowski labels Jerod Mayo firing ‘unfair’

Both Gronk and Mayo, together, won the Super Bowl (XLIX) in 2019. So, his connection with the fired Patriots HC runs deep. And it clearly showed on FOX when he told Michael Strahan:

“I think it was unfair to coach Jerod Mayo. I mean, he never had the chance to develop as a head coach.” But Strahan wanted no emotional take and interrupted him by saying, “Hey, we gotta go to break.” That’s it. He was abruptly cut in his rant about the Patriots.

However, Rob Gronkowski is voicing his concerns through other avenues. While talking to Kay Adams, he said, “I believe that it was kind of unfair to him because he took on a depleted roster… It was a tough situation for him. You got to at least give him one more year…” That’s right. There was no quarterback there. They acquired Jacoby Brissett and drafted Drake Maye. But the rookie needs time to develop. Overall, the situation at the Patriots is alarming.

But by firing Jerod Mayo, Robert Kraft has made his stance clear. They want respectable finishes, championships, and trophies. But Belichick has left a big void. He took care of things for 24 seasons.

Will Robert Kraft give the new coach enough freedom to change things? Those discussions will be done during the negotiations. The Patriots owner hasn’t finalized a candidate for the role, but everyone is aware of the expectations there. What do you think?