Mike Vrabel discusses Bill Belichick’s impact on him as a coach with Zolak & Bertrand
Shortly after Mike Vrabel held his introductory press conference as the newest head coach of the New England Patriots, he sat down with 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand for his first radio interview since getting the job.
Though Jerod Mayo was the true successor to Bill Belichick, he fell flat on his face in a disastrous one-and-done campaign as Patriots head coach. Vrabel is going to go down as the spiritual successor to Belichick, which begs the question of how similar his football operation may be to the greatest head coach in Patriots history.
Vrabel technically isn’t a branch of the Belichick coaching tree. He got his start in the NFL under Bill O’Brien with the Houston Texans, then served as a high-ranking consultant under Kevin Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns. But Vrabel had to have learned something about being a good NFL head coach from playing for Belichick during his eight seasons as a linebacker in New England.
As Vrabel himself put it, he hopes that his Patriots will feature the same coaching hallmarks of the Belichick era, which helped make them such a successful football team. Vrabel may not have the same approach or demeanor as Belichick, but the basic tenets are similar, and he’ll try to carry them over. In short: preparation, complementary football, situational awareness, details.
“I mean, I think we’re different personalities, but if you ask that, hopefully we’re prepared, and we’re ready to execute in critical situations,” Vrabel told Zo & Beetle. “Hopefully, our special teams can set the table for the offense and defense and be violent on special teams and change field position. Offensively, take care of the football, and defensively, be great in the red zone, get off the field on third down, cause turnovers, all the things that I remember [from playing in New England].
“Now, how we get to that may be different than what Bill did, but I also know that there was flexibility there, there was ability to adjust and adapt. That would definitely be a great compliment, if some of our teams did those things.”
The Patriots are almost certainly a long way away from returning to the level that the team was at in the Brady-Belichick era. But under Vrabel, there should be optimism that the team will once again be well-coached, prepared, disciplined, and situationally sound. From there, it’ll be up to the players to make plays and win games.
Watch the above YouTube clip for the full interview with Vrabel on Zolak & Bertrand.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.
