Mike Vrabel Has NFSW Message for Patriots Fans Looking Back at Last Year

Vrabel is ready to bring back a winning record in New England.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks the to media during a press conference.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel speaks the to media during a press conference. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
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Mike Vrabel quickly reminded the New England Patriots and its fans that the 2025 season is a new year—there's no reason to focus on the shortcomings of last season.

In 2024, the Patriots posted a disappointing 4-13 record under coach Jerod Mayo, the first coach to take over the team after Bill Belichick moved on following 24 seasons. There were a lot of expectations on Mayo's shoulders, and he failed to make the Patriots a playoff contender. So, he was fired and the Patriots instead hired Vrabel to lead the team.

Vrabel is ready to begin on a clean slate in Foxborough.

"Why the f--- would I care about what happened last year?" Vrabel said during an episode of Forged in Foxborough. "I'm worried about what's going to go right today and tomorrow and the next day. We're not worried about what went wrong. We're focused on what's going to go right."

The Patriots finished last in the AFC East the past two seasons. This is something the team hadn't done from 2001-22, so Vrabel wants to bring back that success to the Patriots.

"We're building our own identity, OK?" Vrabel said. "The overriding goal for the program that we're going to build is going to be to win the division."

Like Mayo last season, Vrabel will have a lot of pressure on him this upcoming season to bring back a winning record in New England. We'll see if Vrabel can deliver.


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Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.