Vrabel led the COY voting in a landslide, collecting 19 first-place votes and 302 points. He edged out Liam Coen of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who finished with 16 first-place votes and 239 points.
Close behind were Seattle’s Mike Macdonald in third with 191 points and eight first-place votes, Chicago’s Ben Johnson in fourth with 145 points (one first-place vote), and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan in fifth with 140 points (six first-place votes).
This marks Vrabel’s second Coach of the Year award, after winning the honor in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans. He is the 14th coach to win COY twice and the seventh to do so with two different teams.
Under Vrabel, New England surged from back-to-back 4-13 seasons to a 14-3 record, winning the AFC East and advancing to the AFC title. The turnaround has positioned the Patriots as a legitimate title contender heading into Super Bowl LX.
If New England wins the Super Bowl, Vrabel would become the first head coach to win COY and the championship in the same season since Bill Belichick in 2003. He would also be the first to win a Super Bowl as both a coach and a player for the same franchise, a distinction Vrabel already shares with three Patriots championships as a player. Former teammate Tom Brady publicly praised Vrabel, naming him among his LFG Coach of the Year selections.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
