New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel already has filled the three most important positions on his coaching staff with the hires of Josh McDaniels (offensive coordinator), Terrell Williams (defensive coordinator) and Jeremy Springer (special teams coordinator).
But there's an other addition to Vrabel's staff that shouldn't go unnoticed.
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Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay confirmed to reporters Thursday that the team's game management coordinator, John Streicher, is leaving to work with Vrabel in New England. McVay jokingly added that Streicher "broke (his) heart" with the news.
Streicher has plenty of familiarity with Vrabel; a fellow Ohio State alum, Streicher spent six seasons working for Vrabel on the Tennessee Titans, starting out as assistant to the head coach in 2018 and 2019 and eventually earning the "director of football administration" title in 2023.
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In some ways, Streicher was to Vrabel in Tennessee as Ernie Adams was to Bill Belichick in New England, serving as the head coach's "eyes and ears" in the press box and assisting with in-game decisions. While Adams -- a childhood friend of Belichick's -- had a more expansive role as Belichick's sounding board for a wide variety of decisions, Streicher apparently played a key role in helping Vrabel make decisions about when to use timeouts, when to go for it on fourth down and more.
"You look at what this guy's reputation has been in Tennessee working with Mike Vrabel, I've always admired and respected the way they handle situations," McVay said of Streicher last February when the Rams first hired him.
"There's an innate understanding of the rules and how to use those to your advantage, clock management, some of the situational things that do end up coming up. He's done a lot of different things for Tennessee."
With Streicher by his side, Vrabel was viewed as a strong game manager during his Titans tenure with a Belichick-like ability to use the rules to his advantage. The most famous example actually came against Belichick in the Titans' upset of the Patriots in the 2019 AFC Wild Card Round, when Vrabel -- with Streicher in his ear -- ran nearly two minutes off the clock without running a single play by calling for an intentional delay of game and an intentional false start during a punt situation in the fourth quarter.
That focus on in-game strategy should be music to the ears of Patriots fans, who witnessed Jerod Mayo struggle in that department during his lone season as New England's head coach.
The Patriots' biggest weakness in 2024 was their lack of talent, and their quickest path back to relevance is to bolster the roster via free agency and the NFL Draft this offseason. But New England also lost six games by one possession last season, and if Streicher can help the Patriots make smarter decisions during games, perhaps a few more of those losses will flip to wins.