Rob Gronkowski #87 of the New England Patriots celebrates his team's victory in the Super Bowl LIII (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
It’s a busy offseason for the New England Patriots after the team finished the 2024 season with an 4-13 overall record, firing head coach Jerod Mayo.
Patriots legend Rob Gronkowski aired his thoughts on what the Patriots should do with their head coaching just a few hours prior to Mike Vrabel's hire by New England.
His viewpoint lined up almost perfectly with the apparent vision the Patriots moving forward.
Gronk highlighted two specific, though very different, candidates in mind for who should ultimately land the job.
One of them was Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
“He can walk into any situation and this is what’s intriguing here specifically about the New England Patriots,” Gronkowski said in an exclusive interview with RG. “He’s such an offensive minded genius that he can come into a situation with a rookie quarterback, there’s 134 million dollars in salary cap room and he can build and go out there and get some wide receivers and some offensive weapons.”
On top of what Johnson could have built in Foxborough, he said his creativity within the offensive scheme is also something Gronkowski found appealing. It won't be with the Patriots now, but Gronk expects Johnson to lock down a head coaching position sooner than later.
“I think he’s done a great job with the Detroit Lions, coming up with unbelievable plays, different schemes as well, getting his guys open, coming up with trick plays that we’ve never seen before,” Gronkowski said.
Without having knowledge of the Vrabel hire prior to the interview, Gronkowski believed the former Patriots linebacker was the perfect man for the job.
“Mike Vrabel has got so much experience down there in Tennessee,” he said.
“He had the year off and I feel like he’s ready to come in hot and be a head coach again. I feel like Patriots fans will be happy if the team lands either of those two.”
Gronk clearly got his guy.
Rob Gronkowski Heaps Praise On QB Drake Maye
Despite the Patriots not getting the outcome they wanted this season as the team looks anything but like the powerhouse that it used to be, one player who showed so much potential game in and game out was quarterback Drake Maye.
The former North Carolina Tar Heel, selected by the Patriots at No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, finished the season with a 66.6% completion rate, throwing for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
“I think Drake Maye was phenomenal this year,” Gronkowski said. “He exceeded expectations. There’s no doubt about that. Just the way he went in and how he handles himself. Just the energy, the aura that he has around him, he’s going to be a special player for quite some time. The way that he just carries himself as well.”
Gronkowski said he also finds some parallels with the way that he and Maye grew up and some things within their childhood stories.
What I really like about him is that he kind of just has the same background story that I have. I had brothers growing up, we fought, we faced each other, we competed against each other throughout our whole lives. Drake Maye is kind of in that same scenario as well. I feel for the type of competitor he is because of that.”
Moving forward, Gronkowski is excited about what Maye brings to the table, and believes that Patriots fans should be as well.
“I look forward to his future, because it’s going to be special. He’s just going to continue to get better and better,” Gronkowski said.
The two have not personally come into contact, but Gronkowski has admired Maye’s intangibles from afar.
"I’ve never met him before, but I feel like you can just tell in how he plays the game that he’s the guy that wants to get better,” Gronkowski said. “He wants to take in the coaching and he wants to grow year in and year out. That’s what is going to make him a special player for several years to come.”
It will be interesting to watch how Maye performs as the Patriots enter the dawning of a new era.
Rob Gronkowski Dishes on Opinions on Tom Brady’s Broadcast Career
One of the hottest topics of the 2024-25 NFL season has been Tom Brady’s broadcasting career, with public opinion differing on how well the former NFL legend has performed since he went from being on the field to being in the booth.
Gronkowski says he’s watched Brady both prepare and progress in his new role and that it is reminiscent of the way he used to prepare for games as a pro quarterback.
Gronkowski said he feels that the bar was set way too high for Brady by the general public for how he would perform as a broadcaster out of the gate.
“Some of the expectations were extremely high to the point that everyone thought he was going to come in and be the best broadcaster of all-time because of how much it was talked about,” Gronkowski said.
But most would agree that Brady has grown by leaps and bounds, looking more like a natural than a first-timer with the strides he has made each week, it seems.
“He has shown tremendous improvement from Week 1 to now where he has such a great grasp of it that he can handle any situation and it’s super enjoyable watching him succeed. He is going to absolutely dominate when it comes to the playoffs and the Super Bowl.”
Crissy Froyd is a sports reporter of over 10 years who specializes in quarterback analysis at the high school, college and NFL level. She was mentored by Mike Leach and learned the Air Raid offense and quarterback evaluation largely under the legendary head coach. Froyd has appeared in and worked with multiple publications, including USA TODAY SMG, Sports Illustrated, NBC Sports and Saturday Down South. She also covers canine journalism for Showsight Magazine and resides in Wisconsin with her three dogs -- two German Shepherds named Faxon and Bo Nix, and one Siberian Husky named Stetson "Balto" Bennett.
