In Vrabel They Trust: With new head coach, Patriots' long search for a new identity is finally over

Boston Globe

22-05-2025

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The coaching Kool-Aid that got tossed out at the end of Belichick's tenure and lacked essential ingredients during the one-year coaching tenure of another former Patriots linebacker, Jerod Mayo, is now being consumed by the vat for Vrabel.
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'We love playing for Vrabel so far, great energy,' said All-Pro cornerback Christian Gonzalez. 'Everything you see on TV, that's exactly what you get. He puts on a little 51 jersey, which is, I thought, something he did in the past, but you know he still does it. But his energy, he always has great energy, always smiling, so I've enjoyed it.'
After back-to-back 4-13 seasons, the Patriots are amen-ing to Vrabel's gospel. It's evident with the alacrity, upbeat energy, competition, and occasional jawing displayed in their first OTA practice open to the media.
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'I can tell like the guys who have been here it's a different mentality, you know,' said wide receiver DeMario Douglas. 'I feel like everybody's working super hard, and I feel like they're tired of losing, too.
'You can see it when we were working out, man. We're competing. We're competing in workouts, like conditioning drills. That's rare to see … and as we compete we're getting better, each [position] room.'
The Vrabel vibes are real. Whether they translate to more victories remains to be seen. This team is still facing an uphill climb much steeper than the famous conditioning hill (Mount Belichick) behind their upper practice field that they didn't use Tuesday.
But buy-in is a vital first step for any new coach. The former Titans coach has that in spades.
He also has his team's respect from his playing pedigree. Perhaps no one embodied the do-it-all, do-whatever-it-takes ethos of the Patriots' dynasty better than Vrabel. He won three rings here playing outside linebacker, inside linebacker, and on special teams while moonlighting as a red-zone tight end on offense.
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'I think that just out of pure respect for what he did in this league for a long time, obviously, I respect it,' said tight end Hunter Henry. 'I think all the guys in the building respect the way he approached the game, his career, the success that he had, and just the way he played the game the right way.'
Vrabel is entwined with the Patriots' glorious past, but he's not going to bask in it. The organization needed to cut the umbilical cord with its six Super Bowl-winning bearing and accept the reality of its current state. Both Belichick and Mayo struggled to do that.
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Vrabel knows the Patriot Way isn't the only way, and that winning is more about people than some fabled management philosophy to be peddled to corporate CEOs.
The Patriots are being reborn and retooled in Vrabel's image, one that generated football coaching success outside the Foxborough fold. The undercurrent of entitlement tied to the championship era is gone.
Vrabel engaged in a culture cleanse this offseason. Only two of the
Veteran leaders and team stalwarts David Andrews, Bentley, and Joe Cardona (released), as well as Jonathan Jones and Deatrich Wise (allowed to depart via free agency) are all gone. Influential and outspoken locker room voice Davon Godchaux was traded to the Saints. None of those players are bad guys or malcontents, but
The Patriots no longer feel like they're trying to renovate a deteriorating old manse while still living in it. They're building something brand new.
'Oh, man, the culture is different here. I love it,' said Douglas. 'Vrabel is a players' coach, and he's on the field with us. We got a head coach that is on the field with us, man. It's different. He's very in tune to what we're doing, and wants us to be better.'
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It's a little telling, unfortunately, that Douglas seems to have forgotten that the prior head coach was a former player, too. But Vrabel is omnipresent at practice, offering input, putting his stamp on the team.
'We love when the head coach is on the field, and he knows both sides. He knows what's going on on offense and what's going on on defense, and what needs to be done,' Douglas said. 'He's making sure that we're all on one accord, and we're all doing what we need to do.'
Vrabel wields the rare ability to be just one of the guys and The Boss at the same time.
'He has been a lot of fun, a lot of fun in the building, in the meeting rooms,' said Henry. 'He was a player, so he kind of has that energy like we all do … He brings a great energy that I think everybody likes.'
This isn't 2023 or 2024. The Patriots will be prepared and have a plan.
Vrabel restores credibility and a visible identity to a team desperately in need of both as it tries to wind its clock to winning time again.
In Vrabel They Trust.
Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at