The New England Patriots have engineered one of the most impressive turnarounds in recent NFL history. After going 4-13 in each of the last two seasons under Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo, the Patriots have done a complete 180 under new head coach Mike Vrabel, posting the best record in the NFL at 11-2.
New England made some good additions last offseason like bringing in Stefon Diggs, while young players like Drake Maye, TreVeyon Henderson and Will Campbell have stepped up. However, Vrabel deserves much of the credit for elevating a roster that looked like a fringe playoff team at the start of the season.
On Tuesday morning, Adam Jones and Rich Keefe shared some theories on how Vrabel’s improved the Patriots on their WEEI radio show.
They cited Vrabel’s open communication style, which linebacker Christian Elliss discussed on Monday’s show.
Story continues below advertisement
“You can talk to Vrabel about anything,” they said, paraphrasing Elliss. Elliss also talked about players being comfortable having one-on-one meetings with Vrabel in his office and taking instructions from him on the field.
“He seems to be, I think in today’s game, like the ultimate head coach where he oversees the entire team,” Keefe said. “He’s not like a specialized (coach)…He is sort of in charge of the entire 53-man roster.”
They also theorized that players respect and connect with Vrabel more because of his age, experience and accomplishments as a former Super Bowl-winning player.
Story continues below advertisement
Lastly, they credited Vrabel for improving New England’s culture and locker room atmosphere, which had noticeably deteriorated in recent seasons.
“A lot of it is him sort of changing the culture, which is such an easy kind of cliche thing to say, but that’s what’s happened,” Keefe said. “Like, we’ve watched it first-hand. We saw it in camp, and it’s continued throughout the season.”
While there are many factors for Vrabel’s success, there’s no denying the positive impact he’s had on the Patriots this season.
Story continues below advertisement
Featured image via Andrew Nelles/Imagn Images
