Mike Vrabel Had Three Words for Patriots in Morning Meeting Ahead of Super Bowl

Mike Vrabel is coaching his first Super Bowl with the Patriots. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

Mike Vrabel will be coaching his first Super Bowl on Sunday, leading the Patriots against the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. It’s not his first time around the block playing in February; Vrabel won three titles with New England as a player in the early days of the team’s dynasty run this century. So he understands better than anybody the pressure of playing in the big game.

On Sunday he met with the Patriots for a final meeting on the morning of the Super Bowl. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported Vrabel played Super Bowl XXXVI halftime performer U2’s “Beautiful Day” and relived the Patriots’ 2002 Super Bowl upset of the Rams with the team. He then had three words for his players to keep in mind as they take the field: Belief, Identity, and Rage.

Patriots coach Mike Vrabel played U2's Beautiful Day to open his 10 am PT team meeting. He told the story of Super Bowl XXXVI—and that it was a beautiful day b/c a team no one expected to win did, together.

He left players with 3 words on today's plan: Belief, Identity, Rage.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 8, 2026

It’s pretty hardcore send-off from Vrabel to his players. Which aligns with the ethos he brings to the sideline as a coach and is overall reflective of how he played when he was on the field as a star linebacker in Bill Belichick’s defense.

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The Patriots will need to keep to their core principles to have a chance in the Super Bowl. Seattle is an extremely good, well-rounded team with a talent advantage over New England at several positions. On paper the Seahawks figure to have the upper hand and it’ll be on the Patriots to prove otherwise.

Vrabel has shown them the way: belief, identity and rage will get them to the promised land. It’s worked out great so far given the Patriots wildly exceeded expectations throughout the year and transformed into a different team entirely when the postseason arrived, riding a hot defense to three straight wins over strong opponents in the AFC playoff bracket. This Seattle team, with the blinding lights of the Super Bowl looming, will be the toughest test yet for Vrabel’s squad.

The coach has done all he can to prepare his team. Now it’s on them to deliver. It should be obvious pretty quickly if New England is sticking to Vrabel’s ethos above.

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