New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel did not exactly seem interested in offering much comfort to Bill Belichick after his former coach’s ugly debut at North Carolina.
During an appearance on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Tuesday, Vrabel was asked for his reaction to North Carolina’s embarrassing 48-14 defeat to TCU the night before. Initially, Vrabel did not really lean into the topic, saying he had only seen a few snaps of the game.
When host Greg Hill suggested to Vrabel that it takes time to build a program, however, Vrabel offered a pretty brutal retort.
“I don’t know. Urban Meyer won 12 of his first 12 games at Ohio State, so it didn’t take him long,” Vrabel said. “That’s my experience with college football.
“I’m sure it’s probably not as easy outside of the top few programs.”
What did Vrabel think of TCU vs UNC?
— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) September 2, 2025
Greg: "you coached in college, it takes awhile don't you think, to get a program going?"
Vrabel: "Urban Meyer won 12, of his first 12 games, at Ohio State" @WEEI pic.twitter.com/wOMssjJqfe
It should be noted that Vrabel was on the coaching staff of Meyer’s first Ohio State team, so he is probably a bit biased. As he somewhat acknowledged, there is an enormous difference between the Ohio State program Meyer inherited and the North Carolina one Belichick walked into. Plus, Meyer did not even last one full season as an NFL head coach.
Vrabel does not actually have beef with his former Patriots head coach. He is probably just having a little fun, as he did previously when coaching against Belichick in the NFL.
Vrabel was not the only one making fun of Belichick’s college debut. If anything, he was kinder than most in his assessment.
