Mike Vrabel's First Speech Of Patriots Offseason Program Goes Viral And For Good Reasons

The New England Patriots began their 2025 offseason program under coach Mike Vrabel on Tuesday and, if anyone didn't understand that times have changed in Foxboro, the opening speech the new coach delivered to his new players certainly got that message across.

The speech went viral in the hours after it was captured and disseminated by the Patriots Español social media account.

 And then it was scrubbed.

Wisconsin Badgers football coach Luke Fickell says former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel will start spending time around the program. (Credit: USA Today Sports Network)

 The Vrabel Rules Start With Respect

The account, obviously affiliated with the team, deleted the video of Vrabel's opening message.

But the internet is forever, folks, and multiple accounts captured the coach's opening remarks to his players and put them into cyberspace.

"Good morning," Vrabel says before taking a swig of some orange-colored drink.

Maybe that's it. Maybe the reason the video has been taken down is Vrabel was drinking juice that isn't sponsoring the team.

Seriously, Vrabel pretty quickly gets into his rules for the players.

"I'm going to give you the rules that I have," he says, "that I'm going to ask you to abide by, OK? One is to respect the team. Respect the football team and the people that are here, OK?" 

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 17: Christian Gonzalez #6 of the New England Patriots looks on before the game against the Miami Dolphins  at Gillette Stadium on September 17, 2023 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Gonzalez Challenged By Lateness?

"The second one is, OK, I'd like you to have when we're in a meeting, I know what the style may be. Just pull your hood down while we're in a meeting. That's all I ask. When we're in a meeting, just pull your hood down and we go from there."

Big rule coming up now, which seems to be something of a challenge for outstanding cornerback Christian Gonzalez, based on how Vrabel puts the rule out there:

"Be on time," Vrabel says. "We just talked about time. Be on time. And if I can't be on time, Christian, what's the easiest thing to do? You would just call. Right? You would just call and communicate. All you got to do is say, "Hey, something came up.' OK? ‘I’m going to be a little bit late.' 

"Now, after about four or five times, that starts wearing off, OK? This is just a once-in-a-while. All it is is a respect thing."

Vrabel wants players in meetings and the weight room to be focused on their work – getting information to become smarter players and getting bigger and stronger to become more physical.

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 13: Mike Vrabel speaks as he is introduced as head coach of the New England Patriots during a press conference at Gillette Stadium on January 13, 2025 in Foxborough, Massachusetts.  (Photo by Billie Weiss/Getty Images)

Mike Vrabel's Phone Rules

So, there are rules about phones.

"We've all got cell phones," he said. "Most of you have more than one, as a matter of fact. Just leave the cell phone in your bag. Just put the phone away. And if the phone rings, don't start coughing. I've been in this league for 25 years, we all know when a cell phone goes off … we don't need to start coughing and doing that shit. 

"We just turn it [off] or put it on silent and move on. Leave it in your bag. 

"The cell phones in the weight room, leave it on the counter or leave it in your locker, OK? We don't need to do a set and check your cell phone. Just leave the cell phones out in the locker room." 

Vrabel told his players what his goals are in coaching the team he wants to build. And it is built on respect and pride of ownership.

"I told everybody in the building and I told [club owner] Mr. [Robert] Kraft, I told the coaches, it was to build a program that you guys and the coaches and the staff wanted to be a part of and wanted to protect," Vrabel says. 

David Butler II-Imagn Images

Goal Is To Win AFC East

"When you care about something, you protect it. And that you're proud of – that I'm proud to be a New England Patriot. I'm proud of the way we do things. I'm proud of the way we prepare. I'm proud of the way we practice, OK? And I'm proud of my teammates for the effort with which they play. So that was my goal to get started."

Then Vrabel shared his goals for the program and that includes winning.

"The overriding goals for that program that we're going to build is going to be, one, win the division," the coach says. "When was the last time the New England Patriots won the division? Does anybody know? 2019."

The only player remaining from that last AFC East winning team is long snapper Joe Cardona.

"That's one person," Vrabel says. "So, we're building our own identity. We're building our own team. We're building our own program."

And this is where Vrabel makes the point that the 2025 Patriots are not the old Patriot Way team of the Bill Belichick era. 

"There's going to be things within that are different," Vrabel says. "There's going to be things within that that are the same. OK? And it's all going to based on how do we make you guys, OK, as good as you possibly can be as an individual, as a player, and then as a team.

"That's going to be our whole goal. And you have to start understanding that's why we're doing what we're doing."

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - FEBRUARY 25: Head coach Mike Vrabel of the New England Patriots speaks to the media during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on February 25, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

No Maids, Butlers, Valets At Patriot Place

And now my favorite part of Vrabel's message: It focuses, as much of his speech does, on respect and his demand for respect for the people not making millions of dollars and playing in packed stadiums on Sundays.

"The training staff, the equipment staff, the kitchen staff, these people are all here to do what?" Vrabel asks. "What are they here to do? To help you. They are here to help you do your job. 

"They aren't here to be your valet, to be your housekeeper, to be your maid, to be your butler. You get where I'm going? We're going to treat those people with the utmost respect. If we've got a problem, you and I, you can cuss me out. I'm a big boy. I promise you, we can handle it.

"But we're going to treat those people with a helluva lot of respect. Just so we're all on the same page. That's important to me. That's important to our owner, to me, that's important to everybody here is how you treat people in this building. That's important."

Love it.