New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has made his second big hire, snagging another former Detroit Lions coach for his defensive coordinator.

The New England Patriots have hired Mike Vrabel as their next head coach. The team announced the hiring Sunday morning. It comes a week after Patriots owner Robert Kraft fired Jerod Mayo after the team’s season finale victory over the Buffalo Bills to finish 4-13 in his lone season as coach.

The Patriots haven't announced if DeMarcus Covington is staying, but it appears they're moving on at defensive coordinator. The post Who people around NFL reportedly think Mike Vrabel’s ‘ideal’ defensive coordinator is for Patriots appeared first on Boston.

MassLive’s Mark Daniels reports that the Patriots plan to retain. New England is in the midst of some major coaching turnover since the team parted ways with Jerod Mayo after one season. Offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt and defensive coordinator Demarcus Covington are out -- as are at least six other assistant coaches.

Mike Vrabel decided to focus on stability for the Patriots' special teams unit, retaining their coach from the previous season.

The first offseason without Tom Brady was deemed the most crucial in many years, as Bill Belichick needed a lot of improvement on the roster in the wake of the legendary quarterback's departure. They weren't going to have the greatest of all time to cover up the inefficiencies of the offense anymore,