New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has led a remarkable turnaround this season, transforming a four-win team last year into a club that has won 15 games and is hosting a divisional round playoff game this weekend. But while Vrabel demonstrated leadership qualities as a player (he was twice elected team captain during the team’s dynasty years) and learned from one of best coaches in NFL history, Bill Belichick, his coaching career demonstrates that “leadership is a learned capability, not simply an ingrained trait,” says Michael Roberto, DBA, trustee professor of Management at Bryant University.
Born to lead? Usually not
“Vrabel demonstrates that leaders are not always immediate success stories,” says Roberto, who is a lifelong New England Patriots fan as well as a national expert on leadership. “They grow and improve over time if they reflect and learn from past experiences, both good and bad.”
For example, Roberto points out that the Tennessee Titans fired Vrabel after consecutive seasons in which the team compiled a record of 13 wins and 21 losses. Vrabel then took a year to work in the Cleveland Browns organization before being hired as the head coach of the Patriots this season, where he has embarked on a complete overhaul of the team’s roster, culture, and structure and is a top candidate for NFL Coach of the Year honors.
“Vrabel demonstrates that leaders are not always immediate success stories. They grow and improve over time if they reflect and learn from past experiences, both good and bad.”
“Vrabel’s not alone when it comes to learning from past experiences that may not have been as successful as they had hoped,” a lesson that should not be lost on other organizations, Roberto says.
Of the 36 head coaches who have won a Super Bowl championship, he points out, one-third achieved the feat with their second team (or third, in the case of Pete Carroll).
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“All-time great coaches such as Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, Don Shula, Bill Belichick, and Andy Reid did not win a championship with the first team for whom they served as a head coach,” says Roberto. “The lesson for all of us is that we should not dismiss someone’s leadership potential simply because they did not achieve complete success during their first tenure in charge.”
Learning from mentors: accumulate, don’t duplicate
Vrabel did not simply emulate a single mentor as he developed his coaching style, says Roberto.
“Many of us here in New England know that the record for the Bill Belichick coaching tree is quite abysmal,” he points out. “Only one of his former assistants managed to compile a winning record as an NFL head coach (Bill O'Brien with 52 wins and 48 losses). Many of those assistants had spent their entire professional career working only for Belichick before becoming a head coach.”
Exporting the “Patriot Way” and Belichick’s “Do Your Job” mantra has proven to be a steep challenge even for former assistant Josh McDaniels, who is considered one of the league’s best offensive coordinators but has twice failed as a head coach in other organizations.
Vrabel may have actually benefitted from not beginning his coaching career as a Belichick acolyte, Roberto says.
“Yes, he played for Belichick here in New England, but he ventured out to learn from others when his playing days were over. He coached as an assistant at Ohio State and with the Houston Texans,” he says. “Thus, rather than simply copying the style and methods of one mentor, he has been able to learn from multiple models and blend them together into a distinctive leadership style.”
Avoiding the “curse of expertise”
Great players don’t always make great coaches, and there’s a good reason for that, says Roberto.
“People with specialized knowledge who have achieved remarkable success often struggle to teach others,” says Roberto, “because they cannot easily put themselves into the shoes of someone for whom results do not come as easily.”
“People with specialized knowledge who have achieved remarkable success often struggle to teach others, because they cannot easily put themselves into the shoes of someone for whom results do not come as easily.”
This “curse of expertise” may explain why only one former Pro Football Hall of Fame player, Mike Ditka with the Chicago Bears, has gone on to win a Super Bowl as a coach. In fact, Ditka and legendary Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry are the only two former All-Pro players who have won an NFL championship.
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“Now along comes Mike Vrabel,” says Roberto. “He will not earn Hall of Fame admission as a player, but he did achieve All-Pro status once in his career. Can he overcome the curse of expertise?
“Perhaps Vrabel has an advantage here,” he muses. “He did not burst into the league as a star. In fact, he did not flourish until he left the Steelers and joined the Patriots in his fifth NFL season. He struggled at times.”
This history of overcoming adversity may enable Vrabel to relate to players more effectively than other former superstar athletes who have become head coaches, says Roberto.
“Vrabel’s performance on the field clearly gives him credibility with the players,” he says. “However, he’s balanced the ability to forge strong relationships with a willingness to set high expectations, deliver tough feedback, and hold players accountable.
“All great leaders accomplish this challenging feat.”
Great leaders are great teammates, too
It’s easy to overstate the impact of coaching on team performance, Roberto says. “We often label someone a genius, when in fact, they have the privilege of coaching all-time great players,” he points out. “Reid won with Mahomes, Shanahan won with Elway, and Belichick won with the GOAT – Tom Brady. Only Joe Gibbs and Bill Parcells secured Super Bowl championships with more than one starting quarterback.”
At the end of the day, talent matters. “Nevertheless, great leaders are those individuals who forge strong working relationships with their teams, and especially their superstars,” Roberto says.
"Great leaders are those individuals who forge strong working relationships with their teams, and especially their superstars."
“They teach and listen,” he says. “They provide guidance, while also learning from their players. Fortunately, Mike Vrabel seems to have forged this type of strong bond with current Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.” Still to be seen: how far Vrabel’s leadership style will take his team in this year’s NFL playoffs, and in the seasons to come.