New England Patriots tight finish Austin Hooper performed underneath first-year New England head coach Mike Vrabel when the 2 had been employed by the Tennessee Titans in the course of the 2022 season.
Whereas talking with reporters on Tuesday, Hooper addressed what his teammates can anticipate to see and listen to from Vrabel over the following handful of months.
“It was totally different the primary time,” Hooper stated about his earlier expertise with Vrabel, as shared by Conor Ryan of Boston.com. “I’m not talking outdoors the household right here – a really robust character, a man who’s performed earlier than, a man who taught me lots, and at first, it was a more durable transition. It was my first time being round a head coach in that fashion. …The fellows I labored for prior to now had been typically offensive guys. To sort of typecast fashion of coaches – offensive guys are usually extra mellowed out. Defensive guys, it’s a must to carry the vitality and provoke the group. There was extra vitality.”
Hooper and others who had been with the Patriots final season labored with Jerod Mayo, a first-time head coach who reportedly embraced a “heat earlier than confidence” strategy whereas serving because the alternative for Invoice Belichick. By the top of October, Mayo had referred to a workforce that finally completed the marketing campaign at 4-13 as “tender.”
Vrabel isn’t any beginner, as he went 54-45 as head coach of the Titans from 2018-23. Throughout that point, he guided the membership to 1 convention championship recreation look and he earned NFL Coach of the Yr Award honors for the 2021 season. He is now making an attempt to shift the Patriots’ tradition, partially by drafting “high-character gamers” equivalent to offensive deal with Will Campbell and working again TreVeyon Henderson.
After all, Vrabel can also be a Patriots Corridor of Famer who earned three Tremendous Bowl rings enjoying for the workforce from 2001-08. Thus, he will not be asking his gamers to do something greater than what was requested of him by Belichick all these years in the past.
“Like several good boss, he’s going to obviously outline what his staff have to do,” Hooper added about Vrabel. “If you wish to come alongside this journey, that is what’s anticipated. It’s one thing I carry with me.”
