Mike Vrabel’s Face-Tingling Energy Drink Has Become Part of Patriots Culture

Most days during Patriots practice, Mike Vrabel will walk up and down the sideline and pass all of his players without saying a word, wearing the meanest mug he can conjure. Then, very predictably, he’ll stop in front of one particular person (mostly rookie left tackle Will Campbell) and say, “Hey, back it up.” Campbell, or whomever Vrabel has decided to prey on that day, has a chance to respond, resigned to the fact that actually backing up will elicit a quip about a lack of fortitude, while not backing up allows Vrabel will puff out his chest and go faux authoritarian, chiding Campbell for his insolence.

This is just one of a (literal) thousand stories uttered during Super Bowl week about Vrabel’s dark sense of humor, which is almost constantly on display. So too, apparently, are stories of his love, concern, chivalry, physical toughness and schematic acumen. When taken all together, it paints the picture of someone who very much deserves—and won—the NFL’s Coach of the Year award.

When examined deeper, it sounds like Vrabel is a man who burns his candle at both ends. Comedy is exhausting. Love, especially when it comes to an operation of more than 100 people, is absolutely exhausting. Wrestling your players, making sure everyone is polite, staying attentive during meetings and lively during practice … you get it.

Talking to countless Patriots and friends outside the building, they’ll insist, “That’s just Mike.” However, they’ll also admit that he has a secret weapon that puts him a level beyond coaches around the league—a can of liquid gold so potent that it takes a certain kind of beast to harness its powers.

“I tried it before practice once,” says quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant. “My face was twitching—I felt very uncomfortable. The most I can handle is a Red Bull. That stuff? It’s ridiculous.”

Much has been made about the increasingly elaborate coffee orders of NFL head coaches, with large quantities of caffeine proving to be another measure of a coach’s bodily sacrifice. The Bengals’ Zac Taylor has a near constant stream of Pike roasts during the day and, for years, had met his family in the afternoons to re-up the supply. Lions coach Dan Campbell became the alpha in 2022 by suggesting that he downs two gigantic Pike roasts, each with a shot of espresso in them. The order is called a “black eye” and has more than 1,000 milligrams of caffeine. Vrabel drinks coffee too, staffers admit, but when it comes to deriving energy from a drink he insists that all these coaches hold his beer—or in this case, C4.

“He’s a man of multiples,” Patriots receiver Mack Hollins says. “Everyone has their thing. And it works for him, shoot. It gets him going.”

C4, for the uninitiated, is a drink designed for gymgoers to guzzle before a workout. There is a generous portion of caffeine in each serving, along with taurine and something called beta alanine. In taking a brief spin through the drink’s website, there is a frequently asked questions page with queries including:

Why Does C4 Pre-Workout Make Me “Tingle”?
Is the C4 Tingling Sensation Safe?
How Long Does the Tingling From C4 Pre-Workout Last?
Can I Stop the Beta-Alanine Itch?

In short, it feels like the exact thing Vrabel would turn to when coffee isn’t getting the job done.

My curiosity around Vrabel’s C4 habit peaked two weeks ago in Denver, after the Patriots defeated the Broncos in the AFC championship game. Vrabel, gliding through the locker room with a crushed Miller Lite in his hand, pointed to one of his players and said: “I’m C12.”

Dear God, I thought. Is he drinking three of these at once?

“I am amazed,” Patriots center Garrett Bradbury said, when asked about Vrabel’s heroic consumption of pre-workout, while also confirming that Vrabel will update players throughout the day as he goes from C4 to C8 and, yes, to C12.

“C12 … it depends on the day. But yeah, he’s a machine and he’s our leader. It’s impressive.”

Several players noted that Vrabel will begin many meetings with a performative chug of the energy drink, which sets the tone for the rest of the day. And, as the coach goes, so, too, do the rest of his players and even staffers. For those, like Grant, who aren’t scared away by the drink’s potent side effects, it has become part of the Patriot subculture.

“I drink it before practice,” linebacker Jack Gibbens says. “If you’re not used to [having your face tingle], I can see staying away. But I kind of like it.”

“I do ’em in the mornings before I lift,” says Doug Marrone, the team’s 61-year-old offensive line coach. “I think they’re great. I’ve never had them before. But I’m all in.”

Like any situation, balance is important. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is not a C4 convert. Nor is linebackers coach Zak Kuhr, who has served as the team’s primary defensive play-caller for most of the season. McDaniels said Vrabel isn’t pushy but has also known his head coach long enough to rest assured that the drink doesn’t really change him all that much.

“He just gets up in the morning and he’s ready to roll,” McDaniels says. “That’s for sure.”

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