In the latter years of Bill Belichick and one season of Jerod Mayo, the Patriots had somewhat lost their premier identity in the NFL landscape. A storied franchise where six Super Bowl banners hang over their gridiron, New England was languishing at the bottom of the NFL. So, with the arrival of Mike Vrabel, the Patriots ushered in a new era where the winning pedigree needs to be installed once again. “I want to galvanize our football team. I want to galvanize this building.” Vrabel said in his introductory press conference. He wants to bring in a new culture that the Patriots have lost, given they have not won a playoff game since 2018. With that being said, after the conclusion of the first NFL 2025 draft night, a former assistant of Vrabel, Matt LaFleur, said how the Patriots could actually line up under him.
Vrabel got his first coaching job with the Tennessee Titans back in 2018. And under his wings was the current Green Bay Packers coach, Matt LaFleur. He may have only spent a season as Vrabel’s offensive coordinator in Music City before earning the Packers job. But Lafleur surely knows how much of a nuisance a team coached by Vrabel can look like. “You can expect every time you play a Mike Vrabel team, they’re going to be tough as s—,” LaFleur said on Pat McAfee’s show.
He also went on to say that Vrabel will establish a team-first and entitlement-free culture, where everyone will be held accountable. “I think he does a great job of holding everybody accountable. He’s going to expect the most out of the guys that are getting paid the most. That’s just the way it works, and he’ll keep people on the edge of their seats for sure,” LaFleur said about his former mentor. Another thing that Vrabel has always made clear, ever since he took the Patriots job, is that he only wants those who want to be a Patriot.
“When I first met Mike Vrabel he was ripping heaters down Broadway
That’s old school and that’s impressive..
Every time you play a Mike Vrabel team they’re gonna be tough as shit” ~ Matt LaFleur #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/rUfQ4LjOng
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 25, 2025
Those who have second thoughts about their commitment to New England will not be welcome in his cultural revolution. One of those instances came when the Pats traded Joe Milton to the Cowboys when his desires didn’t match Vrabel’s ideology. But if you look at Will Campbell’s arrival as Vrabel’s first-ever draft selection. He always wanted to be a Patriot, even before Vrabel took the Patriots’ job. “This is where I’ve wanted to be since the start. Eliot Wolf came to my practice probably about week 5 of the season..That happened in the middle of the season,” Campbell recalled.
Will even called Vrabel his “kind of guy” as he prepares to kickstart his NFL chapter: “He’s all ball and no BS. That’s what I want to play for. He’s very hands-on. He loves the players that he coaches. I just want to be a part of that.” But Will and Matt weren’t the only people who spoke highly of Mike Vrabel. Even his former left tackle, Taylor Lewan from Tennessee, gave a little sneak peek on what to expect from a Vrabel team.
Mike Vrabel’s former left tackle gave the Patriots a teaser of their new head coach
Taylor Lewan spent five highly successful years under Vrabel in Music City, which included three consecutive playoff appearances. So, Lewan knows what it feels like to play under Vrabel, who installed a winning mentality in Tennessee. After the Pats selected his former coach, Lewan simply said, “The culture is going to be incredible. You guys are going to win games, you’re going to win them. That’s how Mike Vrabel works. That guy is going to have his team knowing the ins and outs.”
Under Vrabel’s tenure, the Titans qualified for their first AFC Championship game in 17 seasons. They may have lost to the eventual Champions, the Chiefs, in 2019. But Vrabel had done enough to show how he can come in and change a team’s fortune. Lewan also warned the Patriots about Vrabel’s leadership style. He apparently preaches that his whole roster memorizes every facet of the game, from offense, defense, to special teams.
“I swear to god it’s going to get tough at times. He can be nasty. But you’re going to win some games,” Lewan mused. Well, it will be only a matter of months before we get to know how Vrabel starts his tenure in New England. Considering how he has come in and tried to motivate a deflated team, the sky is the limit for the Patriots. But at the end of the day, only the results will have the final verdict on whether Vrabel will be successful or not.
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