Seven years after hoisting the sixth Lombardi Trophy, the New England Patriots are clawing their way back. They punched the ticket for this year’s Super Bowl 60, and behind their rise is head coach Mike Vrabel. Not to forget, it’s the same coach who failed miserably at his first interview with the Ohio State Buckeyes. 

“I tell this to every person I interview,” shared Vrabel with the media ahead of the big day. “Nobody’s gonna have a worse first interview than I did. I wasn’t prepared. I sat down with Urban Meyer in front of a staff, interviewed for a position, completely bombed it, and had no idea. I didn’t have a teaching progression. He gave me about eight hours to go back to my office and didn’t sleep, didn’t go home to prepare for the next day at six in the morning.”

That humbling experience was a far cry from a playing career defined by dominance, where Vrabel consistently proved he belonged. The current New England coach proudly earned two Big Ten Conference Defensive Lineman of the Year honors in 1995 and 1996, making Vrabel the first to achieve this feat twice.

He set impressive records at Ohio State, including the single-season sack and TFL records, and left campus as the all-time leader with 36 career sacks. In the NFL, he earned both Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. However, when he met Meyer, the then-Buckeyes head coach, he struggled during the interview. 

“I draw this little circle, this little T, talking about the three technique,” Vrabel shared in one of the episodes of Meyer’s The Triple Option podcast. “And he was like, ‘That is the worst thing I’ve ever seen.’” 

It’s not surprising, as Urban Meyer’s hiring process is viral for its own reasons. During his short time with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Meyer tried to bring in some of his old college coaches to fill NFL positions. Unfortunately, they weren’t quite ready for the jump to the pros, and he struggled to assemble a staff with enough NFL experience to make the transition smoothly.

However, once Vrabel grabbed that role, there was no looking back. He stepped into Ohio State in 2011 to coach the linebackers, then was promoted to the defensive line coach in 2012. With Vrabel at the helm, the Buckeyes’ defense ranked 15th in the nation in yards allowed (333 per game) and 22nd in points allowed (19.9 per game).

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He leveraged his Ohio State experience in the NFL, progressing from a position coach to defensive coordinator for the Houston Texans. His first stint as head coach came with the Tennessee Titans in 2018.

Now that Vrabel is on the brink of grabbing the Super Bowl crown, he is carrying an Ohio State legacy on the big stage. 

Mike Vrabel and Ohio State alumnus shining on the Super Bowl stage

Ohio State’s footprint is massive at Super Bowl LX. The former Buckeyes receiver, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, leads the Seattle Seahawks, while Vrabel, TreVeyon Henderson, and Thayer Munford Jr. bring their Ohio State pedigree to the Patriots.

Vrabel, already tied for the most Super Bowl wins and appearances as a player among former Buckeyes, added another historic milestone to his résumé. With his latest trip, he becomes the first-ever former Ohio State player to reach five Super Bowls, either as a player or a head coach.

After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, New England hit the reset button with Vrabel. The risk paid off as he flipped the script, leading the Patriots to a 14-3 season and a Super Bowl berth in his very first year. Smith-Njigba led the NFL with 1,793 receiving yards in the regular season. What began as a sluggish start for Henderson turned into a statement game, racking up 147 yards and two touchdowns at Tampa Bay.

From a bombed interview in Columbus to the NFL’s biggest stage, Vrabel’s journey is a testament to the resilience he first learned to embrace in Meyer’s office.