Mike Vrabel has focused on creating a specific culture during his first season as coach of the New England Patriots.
The tone was set when he first spoke to the team prior to the start of the offseason program in April.
“What my goal was, what I told everybody in the building ... it was to build a program that you and the coaches and the staff wanted to be a part of, that they wanted to protect,” Vrabel told the team. “When you care about something,
you protect it. And that you were proud of it. ... You’re eventually going to believe in that and start to trust it.”
Ten months later, those words have helped lead Vrabel’s first team to the verge of capturing the franchise’s seventh Super Bowl title.
Vrabel is the eighth man to play in a Super Bowl and then reach one as a head coach. With a win over the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, he can make NFL history as the first person to win a Super Bowl as both a player and a head coach for the same franchise.
Asked how he’s maintained the same enthusiasm he had when he first addressed the team prior to the season, Vrabel said his energy is fed by what he has received from everyone around him.
“The more that I’m around the players, I would say the easier that it gets,” Vrabel said. “They have responded to us. They’ve done everything we’ve asked them to do. So, I think being around the players helps.”
During his more than two decades as coach of the Patriots, Bill Belichick established a no-nonsense approach to creating a program that became synonymous with his “do your job” culture.
It produced Lombardi trophies — six of them — and an atmosphere that rubbed even some of his best players the wrong way at times.
While Vrabel himself earned three Super Bowl rings under Belichick during the 2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons, his North Star has been to prioritize a connection with and among his players.
He’s instituted little things that shine the spotlight on his team, like game-specific captains who are selected based on things like a player’s past connection to the opponent, or even just the state or city they’re playing in that week.
He brought back individual player introductions, something that hadn’t been done by the Patriots in over a decade.
After every single game this season, he’s also shaken hands with the opposing coach and then raced to the locker room to give a hug or handshake to every player as he enters the locker room.
Then, once the team gathers, in addition to the typical game ball given to a standout player, he also gives individualized shout outs to other players. Each one is followed by a unison “one clap” by the team to make it a group experience.
And when the Patriots established themselves as the NFL’s best road team — they have yet to lose on the road this season in nine games — he began calling them the “road warriors” and had the team watch the 1979 movie “The Warriors.”
After they beat the Denver Broncos on the road to win the AFC championship, Vrabel harkened back to the movie screaming, “Warriors! Come out to play!”
In short, he’s made his first season in New England about helping his team enjoy winning.
“The handshakes and hugs after the games — win or lose. It means a lot because he cares,” rookie left guard Jared Wilson said. “He cares so much about us and he cares so much about helping this team.”
His approach has roots in what Vrabel refers to as the 4 H’s: History, Heroes, Heartbreak and Hope.
In team meetings this season, Vrabel has had players tell their teammates the story of how they grew up (history), who they looked up to as kids (heroes), personal challenges they’ve faced (heartbreak) and what they aspire to in the future (hope).
It created a group that enjoys spending time together off the field and that has grown their bonds organically.
“He stayed the same, consistent the whole time,” wide receiver Stefon Diggs said. “I felt like our coach believed in us. He helped us build this identity that he speaks of. He held everybody to the same standard."
Diggs said Vrabel has been the best coach he’s had in 11 seasons. Diggs believes it’s no coincidence he posted his seventh 1,000-yard receiving season following offseason knee surgery.
“I realized it starts at the head. When you hold everybody to the same standard, and you hold everybody to the same requirements each and every day, you hold your teammates accountable,” Diggs said. “You start looking at your teammates and self-policing, self-accountability. You don’t want to let your teammates down."
Vrabel said he’s just a product of the people he’s learned under. From playing and later coaching at Ohio State, to being drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers and playing for NFL coaches including Belichick.
“I just try to be me, and sometimes that’s good enough, sometimes it’s not,” Vrabel said. "But I just try to learn from every person, every great coach that I’ve been around, and try to make it my own style.”
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