Mike Vrabel’s ‘vulnerable’ four-word message to the Patriots that rebuilt a broken Super Bowl dynasty

The Tennessee Titans got it horribly wrong when one of the NFL’s worst franchises fired Mike Vrabel, the reigning Coach of the Year.

The New England Patriots got it right when they signed a linebacker from Ohio State in 2001, then brought back a three-time Super Bowl champion as their head coach for another Super Bowl run this season.

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Patriots bonded by becoming ‘vulnerable’

Vrabel is the core of the revived Patriots in 2026.

As an All-Pro linebacker, he watched and learned from Bill Belichick, the greatest coach in NFL history who should already be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Then the 50-year-old Vrabel returned to rebuild a broken dynasty, flipping 4-13 into 14-3 and a spot in Super Bowl LX in just one season, and becoming the first person in NFL history to reach the Super Bowl as a staring player and head coach with the same franchise.

“He’s done a great job of really digging in and getting to know the players,” former Patriots Super Bowl-winning defensive back Devin McCourty exclusively told talkSPORT this week in San Francisco.

“The players talked about they had their four Hs, right? Heartbreak, heroes, history and hope. They said he comes in and he says, ‘I want everyone to do this,’ and they said he opens first and he goes to all four.”

Carlton Davis won Super Bowl LV as part of a relentless Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense that pounded Kansas City Chiefs quarterback for four quarters.

Throw in Tom Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl as a Buc — the only one when he wasn’t a Patriot — and it was 31-9 Tampa Bay in 2020.

Five seasons later, Davis is a starting cornerback for Vrabel’s Patriots, and the ‘Four Hs’ speech was still making an impact days before Super Bowl LX.

The four words that changed the Patriots

“I talked about me growing up with three brothers,” Davis exclusively told talkSPORT.

“Talked about my dad being the first person to really train us. My dad was in the Navy for a little bit, so he kind of trained us a little bit harder than other dads. I talked about my daughter, how she’s an inspiration to me. Talked about my mom, who’s my hero.

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“We got a chance to be vulnerable to each other and I guess that made us closer and that made us want to play harder for each other, knowing that everybody doesn’t have a sweet life and you never know what somebody’s going through.”

If the Seattle Seahawks win the Super Bowl on Sunday inside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, it will be because of an elite defense, a solid running game, NFL Offensive Player of the Year Jaxon Smith-Njigba and a brilliant $100 million bet on former New York Jets throwaway quarterback Sam Darnold.

“Just proud of him (Darnold),” Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield told talkSPORT this week.

“I think it’s not the evolution of Sam. It’s just him being in the right situation. The unwavering confidence, no matter what the situation he’s been in, and being able to come out stronger on the other side.”

Seattle has edge but Patriots have Vrabel

If the Pats turn their record 12th Super Bowl appearance into a record seventh Lombardi Trophy, it will primarily be because Vrabel was the perfect hire at the perfect time.

McCourty mentioned Vrabel bonding with the new Pats, and stories kept making the rounds in San Francisco and Santa Clara this week about how his looseness has been critical to New England returning to the big game.

“He gets in there and he’s waiting for every guy to come in from the locker room,” McCourty said.

“The guys are coming off and he’s doing the dances with them. I think it’s a side that not a lot of people expected.”

But Vrabel also turned an off year with the Cleveland Browns — widely regarded as one of most dysfunctional franchises in the NFL — into his own coaching rebirth.

The ex-Pat reminded himself who he really wanted to be as a head coach.

Finding hope and heroes in Cleveland

Then Vrabel became a proud Patriot again, bringing a warm 21st Century touch to an organization that was often cold and clinical under the ‘Do Your Job’-obsessed Belichick.

“The biggest thing I learned was that I wanted nothing more than to be a head coach again,” Vrabel told reporters in Santa Clara before the Patriots’ final practice of the week.

“Just understand how important the connections are with the players and not losing sight in that.”

He was fired by the Titans in January 2024, despite a 54-45 record, two playoff victories and winning NFL Coach of the Year.

He spent a year with the Browns in the basement as a coaching and personnel consultant, and remembered what the NFL was truly about.

Vrabel makes Patriots believe as underdogs

The four Hs: History, heroes, heartbreak and hope.

“I kind of got back to the basics of just what this game is about,” Vrabel said. “Making connections, and it’s about the people, and getting the players to find ways to improve and develop them and give them confidence.

“Maybe it wasn’t something that I wanted to do differently, but it was just an affirmation of, ‘This is what’s important.’ “

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Catching Belichick in Patriots and NFL history is impossible.

He built a two-decade dynasty during the salary cap and free agency eras, and New England would have a couple more world championship trophies with a little luck vs Eli Manning and the New York Giants.

The greatest tribute to Belichick on Sunday would be Vrabel winning Super Bowl LX with Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs, Rhamondre Stevenson, Christian Gonzalez, Marcus Jones and Josh McDaniels.

The AFC East was supposed to belong to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills.

The Denver Broncos won the conference’s No. 1 seed after 17 games, then hosted the AFC Championship at home in the snow.

Vrabel answered it all by making the rebuilt Patriots vulnerable.

Now the Coach of the Year fired by the Titans is one win away from another New England Super Bowl trophy that will make Belichick proud of the player and head coach that the Patriots helped create.

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