I don't know if any of you reading this right now are old, or feel comfortable with calling yourself old, but I've recently fallen into both categories. I am 40 years old and more than happy to tell you that I am old.

Part of accepting and admitting to the ticking clock of mortality, not to mention the aches and pains of a high mileage body trying to keep up, is understanding limitations and pushing against them.

For instance, my old brain loves to try and simplify concepts. This new player looks kinda like that old player from years ago, similar in size and shape and maybe hairstyle and demeanor, so my brain wants to assume that they're the same. They're not.

That being said, it's hard to ignore Patriots coach Mike Vrabel's unorthodox and improbable ascension to a likely NFL Coach of the Year nod this season.

I don't know how else to put this, but Mike Vrabel never looked like a dominant pass rusher. I don't mean his face, I mean how he moved. He wasn't particular big or strong or fast. His athleticism did not shine through.

And, yet, when he wasn't piling up the tackles as an inside linebacker (108 in 2005), he was a good enough as an outside linebacker to pick up 12.5 sacks in 2007 and earn the distinction of a First-Team All-Pro. 

For pretty much his entire career, after the Steelers gave up on him, Vrabel found a way to be an incredibly valuable NFL player no matter where the Patriots (and, later, the Chiefs) played him.

How? I don't know. Probably witchcraft.

A former Ohio State Buckeye, Vrabel retired from the NFL at 35 years old to take a job as the linebackers coach for his alma mater. Three years later, he took the same job with the Houston Texans. Three years after that, he was named the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

Now, it's worth noting, Vrabel isn't pulling wool over anyone's eyes. He was an actually good player and he's an actual good coach. It's all just happened a little faster and easier than it seemed like it should've.

For instance, the Titans' job was a dead end when he took it. They fired Mike Mularkey after a 9-7 season because of a step backward in development for future franchise QB Marcus Mariota. Vrabel, a LB coach, was being asked to both turn the QB around and perform better than "above .500" with no experience.

In his first season, the Titans finished 9-7 and Marcus Mariota improved (but also showed a pretty low ceiling on his potential). In Vrabel's second season, he benched Mariota in favor of journeyman QB Ryan Tannehill. The team again finished 9-7, but Mariota was 2-4 as a starter. 

The next two seasons saw Vrabel's Titans towards the top of the AFC, with 11-5 and 12-5 records, and Ryan Tannehill as the starting QB (Mariota was someone else's problem by then). The team hit home runs on draft picks like Derrick Henry, A.J. Brown, Jonnu Smith and Jeffery Simmons.

And then, just as quickly as it all came together, it fell apart. 

The Titans traded (24-year old superstar WR) A.J. Brown to the Eagles instead of signing him to a long-term contract. Tannehill fell off a cliff. Project QB Malik Willis never panned out. 

After two years of being under .500, the Titans and Vrabel went their separate ways. The following year, Tennessee won just 3 games with a new head coach.

After taking a year off, Mike Vrabel found an offer that was difficult for him to say no to.

One year after Bill Belichick and the Patriots went their separate ways (following a 4-13 season), and after Jerod Mayo spent one year as the team's head coach (leading them to another 4-13 season), the Patriots were not about to pass up their chance at hiring another witch at head coach.

I'm saying this tongue in cheek, but I really do think that most head coaches are just trying to avoid negatively impacting their team. There are few that can actually positively affect their team's record.

And that leads up to today. The Patriots finished the season with a 14-3 record and a Chargers' Week 18 win away from the #1 seed in the AFC. They have the same starting QB as last year, and the only real difference at the offensive skill positions is the addition of rookie RB TreVeyon Henderson and veteran WR Stefon Diggs.

The New England offense jumped from 30th in points scored last season to 2nd this year. Their defense went from 22nd in points allowed to 4th. The team is the 11th youngest in the NFL this season.

So, I'll ask a question that I've been asking for a long time, since the days of Ryan Tannehill fighting for the #1 seed in the AFC:

What does Mike Vrabel know that the rest of us don't? How is he so much better at this than other head coaches?