‘Inside Look’ Into Mike Vrabel Meeting Should Spark Patriots Excitement
The New England Patriots clearly needed a locker room switch, hence, the proactive hiring of new head coach Mike Vrabel.
Sure, there’s the obvious need to not finish dead last in the AFC East with a 4-13 record for the third consecutive time next season. But there’s also a need to rebuild the team’s culture, and this time, it’s up to Vrabel, an ex-Patriots linebacker of eight seasons and three-time Super Bowl champion, to change that.
Vrabel now takes over for the messy trainwreck that was Jerod Mayo’s lone season as Patriots head coach, and the team — and its fans — have a preview from seven years ago that could suggest what it’ll look like behind the scenes in New England next season.
Will Compton, an ex-Tennessee Titans linebacker during Vrabel’s head-coaching stint, shared a snippet of the Vrabel experience.
You can watch the full video here, courtesy of Compton’s X account.
Compton’s reposted clip from Tennessee’s 2018 season resurfaced hours after Vrabel was officially hired by New England and should uplift the mundane mood left in Foxboro after the franchise’s third consecutive postseason miss.
“Hey, hey, listen. Let’s stop (expletive) laughing,” Compton shouted while performing a multi-minute impersonation of Vrabel. “It’s not about feeling great. It’s about being great. I know you’re (expletive) hurting. I was (expletive) hurting. Twenty-eight years in the league, I was (expletive) hurting.”
Everyone in Tennessee’s meeting room busted out laughing throughout Compton’s performance, including Vrabel himself. The 49-year-old’s ability to laugh, even as the butt of the joke, demonstrated Vrabel’s loose personality.
Perhaps Vrabel’s presence will help add some personality and uplift the vibes at Gillette Stadium come next season.