New England Patriots tight finish Austin Hooper performed below first-year New England head coach Mike Vrabel when the 2 had been employed by the Tennessee Titans throughout the 2022 season.
Whereas talking with reporters on Tuesday, Hooper addressed what his teammates can count on to see and listen to from Vrabel over the subsequent handful of months.
“It was totally different the primary time,” Hooper mentioned about his earlier expertise with Vrabel, as shared by Conor Ryan of Boston.com. “I’m not talking exterior the household right here – a really robust character, a man who’s performed earlier than, a man who taught me rather a lot, and at first, it was a more durable transition. It was my first time being round a head coach in that fashion. …The blokes I labored for prior to now had been usually offensive guys. To type of typecast fashion of coaches – offensive guys are usually extra mellowed out. Defensive guys, you must convey the vitality and impress 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 “warmth before confidence” method whereas serving because the alternative for Invoice Belichick. By the top of October, Mayo had referred to a group that in the end completed the marketing campaign at 4-13 as “comfortable.”
Vrabel is not any beginner, as he went 54-45 as head coach of the Titans from 2018-23. Throughout that point, he guided the membership to one convention championship sport look and he earned NFL Coach of the 12 months Award honors for the 2021 season. He is now attempting to shift the Patriots’ tradition, partially by drafting “high-character gamers” comparable to offensive deal with Will Campbell and operating again TreVeyon Henderson.
In fact, Vrabel can be a Patriots Corridor of Famer who earned three Tremendous Bowl rings taking part in for the group 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 all 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.”
