New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel did not wait around to get his message across to his new team.
On Sunday, the Patriots announced that the team was hiring Vrabel as its next head coach. Vrabel replaced Jerod Mayo after the latter’s tumultuous 2024 season at the helm in Foxborough.
Vrabel addressed the media a day later during his introductory press conference. One message in particular resonated heavily with Patriots fans.
“We’re removing entitlement from our football team … we’re going to earn the right to be here every single day,” said Vrabel.
Some felt like Mayo’s one-year tenure with the Patriots may have been hurt by his desire to be too much of a player’s coach.
Vrabel, like Mayo, is also a former Patriots player. But with more coaching experience under his belt, Vrabel likely has a better understanding of how to commandeer an NFL locker room.
Once Mayo was fired earlier this month, Vrabel was touted by many as an obvious candidate to become the Patriots’ next head coach.
Vrabel is just a year removed from his successful six-year run as the head coach of the Tennessee Titans. He led the team to four winning seasons and three postseason appearances. Vrabel won the Coach of the Year award in 2021 after guiding the Titans to the top seed in the AFC. Tennessee had a 54-45 record with Vrabel as its coach.
Vrabel is not the only player-turned-coach to draw interest from his former NFL team this month. The Cowboys have also been linked to a splashy head coaching candidate.
