The New England Patriots went from worst to first in the first year of a full team rebuild, and it forced a coaching shakeup in the division. New England’s quick turnaround showed the rest of the league that it can be successful with a new head coach and coaching staff within the first year of the rebuild. With Mike Vrabel’s arrival in New England, it created a blueprint for other teams to follow, and it’s already starting to happen in the AFC East.
After two consecutive seasons finishing 4-13, the Patriots hired Vrabel, and they completely flipped them to be one of the top teams in the entire NFL with a 14-3 record, and now they’re in the AFC Championship Game. Since only four teams remain in the playoffs, that means 28 other teams are already preparing for next season, which created 10 head coaching vacancies for 2026, two of which happen to be in the AFC East with the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins.
The Patriots Resurgence Forced AFC East Into Panic Mode
For the better part of 20-years, the Patriots owned the division by winning 17 division titles in that time. But over the last five years, it’s been the Bills who’ve run the division with a window of opportunity as one of the best teams in the conference with an MVP quarterback in Josh Allen, but they only advanced to the AFC Championship Game twice and lost in the Divisional Round three times. They were unable to take advantage of the window while it was open, but the Patriots closed it this season, and now Buffalo is looking for a new head coach after they cut ties with Sean McDermott after nine years.
Buffalo has no real plan for their next head coach. The biggest name that had an interview is former quarterback Phillip Rivers, whose only legitimate coaching history is from a recent stint at the high school level. It’s also worth mentioning that Allen will be involved in the decision of the next head coach.
The Dolphins may not have taken advantage of the window of opportunity as they hoped. Despite having the talent, they cut ties with Mike McDaniel after just four years as the head coach. During this time, however, the Dolphins finished second in the AFC East in three out of four years under McDaniel and lost in the Wild Card round twice. Miami has already found the next head coach with Jeff Hafley. He’s a former head coach of Boston College and spent the last two years as the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers. This will be their fourth head coach in the last 10 years.
Believe it or not, the New York Jets might have the right coach in place with Aaron Glenn, who just completed his first season as the head coach of the team after signing a five-year deal in the offseason. He was previously the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions (2021-2024) before joining the Jets. Similar to Vrabel, Glenn played for the Jets back in his heyday, so now two former players are coaching their former teams in the division. The last time the Jets finished above third in the division was in 2015, and since then, they’ve finished last in seven out of the last 10 years.
The problem with the Jets is a lack of talent, which the other three teams in the division don’t have.
Although some of these seats were already hot, the Patriots being back on top of the division and the league amplified the need for the other three teams to upgrade their coaching staffs and try to rebuild their teams to try to keep up with New England once again.