New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel has already achieved NFL history on Sunday, as he led the organization to an AFC Championship win over Denver and a Super Bowl bid in his first season at the helm of the franchise. The successful season comes on the heels of back-to-back four-win seasons in New England, making the Patriots the first franchise to reach the Super Bowl under a first-year head coach after four or fewer wins the previous season.
Vrabel can also lay claim to becoming just the eighth head coach in NFL history to lead a team to a Super Bowl in his first season, and the Patriots are the first team to advance to a Super Bowl with 13 or more losses in their previous season. But Super Bowl LX now offers another opportunity to make history for Vrabel.
If the Patriots win the big game, Vrabel will become the only person in NFL history to capture a Super Bowl Championship as a coach and a player with the same franchise, after winning three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) with the organization as a player between the 2001-2004 seasons.
Vrabel also has the opportunity to become just the sixth man in NFL history to win a Super Bowl as both a player and a coach, joining a list that includes Mike Ditka, Tom Flores, Gary Kubiak, Doug Pederson, and Tony Dungy. The Patriots will face the winner of Sunday's NFC Championship Game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LX.
This article originally appeared on Touchdown Wire: How a Super Bowl win could cement Mike Vrabel's legacy in NFL history