TRANSCRIPT: Mike Vrabel Interview with Dianna Russini 8/17
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Here’s what Mike Vrabel had to say during a recent appearance with Dianna Russini on her Scoop City podcast:
Dianna Russini: On his 50th birthday, you are joining us. How old do you actually feel?
Mike Vrabel: “Seventy-five. Seventy-five.”
Seventy-five? I feel like most people …
“I mean, mentally, probably a little younger. Physically, definitely a little older.”
So it’s your Jersey number?
MV: “Yep.”
You’re probably in that. Do you still feel like-
“Back when I wasn’t playing in Pittsburgh, they just changed my number every year.”
They were different.
“Yeah.”
What were they?
“They would bring somebody else in, and I’d get 96, then I would get 56. And then I wore, I think, three different numbers in four years.”
How did you settle on 50?
“Well, I had 51. Had 51, when I got to New England. We signed Brian Cox, and he was like, ‘I’ve always worn 50.’ And I said, well, ‘I’m not that attached to it. However, I don’t make that much money. Let’s come up with something here and you can have the number.’ So Brian Cox took care of me, and he got his number.”
What’s been a part of your birthday so far today?
“My son, Carter, surprised me, got on a flight from Nashville at 6:00 in the morning, surprised me as I walked out of a meeting room, and smashed me with whipped cream, Ben Jones style. I know Ben Jones couldn’t make it, but Ben was the culprit back in Tennessee. He’d get everybody on his birthday. And I think Carter is trying to take over for Ben.”
Well, you bring up Tennessee so naturally there. And obviously, things are so different now as you have this new job in New England. Looking back at that time in Tennessee, how do you reflect on it?
“Well, we spent a lot of time there. When you’re in a place for six years in the National Football League, I think that’s a long time as a player or as a coach. And so you put some roots there, had a lot of great times, had some times that weren’t as positive. Everything has its shelf life. So I think Nashville will always be a part of us. My kids were there, and Carter went to high school there, and still going to live there. But we’ve moved on, obviously. That’s in the past.”
I remember after your time in Tennessee talking to people around the league about what you were going to do next. Everyone was saying the same thing, which is ‘he can’t not do this. He has to coach. He loves that so much.’ So you were with the Browns as a consultant. And then people there were telling me that you were doing way more than consulting, that you were actually involved in so many different areas. Did you learn more in Cleveland about the process of what everyone else is doing because you were around so many different-
“What I learned was that there’s nothing else that I want to do than try to be a head coach again. I learned that. I learned how important relationships are with players. As a coach, as an assistant coach, I had a lot more time to spend with players and trying to figure out what they need to improve and how I can help them. I wasn’t worrying about injuries and the day-to-day. I was able to invest just in the players.”
I get that, but to push back on you, because you were a player, I would think that you’d be the best at understanding that perspective. Why did you need it?
“I didn’t need it. It was a good reminder of what’s important. It was a great reminder of what’s important. When you’re a head coach dealing with all the other stuff, the most important thing is still going to be the players and the connection there. Somebody gave me the nickname human resource, and I’m like, I don’t even know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
That that was your job, that you were human resources?
“It was like ‘the human resource.’ I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ It was Dee, Dee Haslam, was like, ‘Well, I don’t know. I see you over here. I see you over here. I see you over there.’ I was like, ‘Wow, thank you. I hope that that’s a positive.'”
Who’s the head of HR for the Patriots then in this example? Not the real one.
“Probably Stretch. Stretch is our human resource. Anything we need, anything us humans need, Stretch tries to provide.”
In 10 seconds, share with people who Stretch is.
“Well, John Streicher is the heartbeat to what we do as an operation, as far as training room, weight room, our connection to our players, our staff. He’s an extension of me. And so I think people realize that if they need to get to me and don’t get to me, they go through Stretch. There’s a lot of trust there that he’s built. So he’s helped us win a lot of football games in Tennessee, and I’m excited that he’s going to be with us in New England to help us win there.”
Well, before we talk New England, because I have a lot of questions about where you guys are at at camp now. There was a time when you were wrapping up your time with Cleveland and you had opportunities to coach other organizations. It’s been reported now that the teams that you met with and that you were interested in. Was there any other team outside New England that was enticing, that you maybe considered more than you expected?
“Well, I think being able to visit with the Jets was very intriguing and interesting, and meeting everybody that was involved there. Meeting with the Bears organization and what they were about, and the people that they had there in place. But in the end, I think that this was just the right choice at the right time.”
Has it ever been weird for you to be back in New England just because you played there? Do you ever have those moments of-
“Flashbacks?”
Yeah.
“Yeah, I mean, I think that that happens. I think that there are still people that… Our head athletic trainer, Jim Whalen, was my head athletic trainer. Stacey James would come to me about media. Nancy Meyer would handle my travel back home from mini camp. She handles our players’ travel. So, there’s a lot of familiar faces, and then a lot of new ones as well.”
Was it ever your dream to be the head coach of the New England Patriots? Did that ever cross your mind? Because Belichick has come out and said you were one of the most prepared, disciplined type players. It didn’t surprise him that you became a coach, but was it ever the Patriots on your radar?
“I mean, I’ve said this. I think that I had an opportunity to go and be an assistant in New England. I didn’t think that that was the right thing to be there at that time.”
So this is when Bill was there?
“Correct.”
He wanted to bring you on?
“Yeah. We had a conversation, and then I ended up going to Houston. And I felt like that was the best thing for me at that time, was to go there and kind of learn from Bill O’Brien, which I did. I learned a lot. He helped prepare me for the opportunity in Tennessee. And then, like I said, always when the time was right, if it all worked out, we could come back here. And now we are. We’re getting started on this thing.”
I know you were able to see your former teammate, Tom Brady during the statue reveal last week. What does the greatest quarterback of all time think of this current New England Patriots team? Has he shared with you any of his thoughts?
“No, he hasn’t.”
Is that competitiveness? Because now he’s a Raiders guy…?
“Our conversations have never been about the team. It’s been about life and family and what he’s got going on and what I’ve got going on outside of coaching the Patriots. They’re always easy conversations. We go back and forth and try to give each other a hard time.”
All right, let’s start there then. Or not start, let’s continue talking New England now. Rip through this quick. Your quarterback. Right now, where is he at?
“Continuing to improve. And again, I think that these practices here against the Vikings defense, they do a lot. They show you a lot, and they try to put you in a blender. And by that, we mean one play is hard, and then you just are thinking about the last play, and the next play becomes even harder and harder until you’re just spinning in the blender. And that’s what they like to use in the quarterback room. And I didn’t see him do that yesterday. He wasn’t perfect by any means, but he never went in the blender. So I think that that’s good. I think I’m excited about what he’s going to do today.”
What skill is that then?
“Just being able to process in his response and being to just not let it be too big, not let it be too big, and be able to process one play at a time and try to get everybody on the same page with the protection and whatever run game, and get us in the right call, and continue to lead us and not waver.”
I’ve seen you out on the field, and I’ve read some stories about you working with Drake on leadership. What’s something that you’re hoping to see him develop over the next few weeks before we get to week one that will say to you, ‘he’s the guy?’
“Again, we’ve talked about this. We can have different personalities. We have to have one mentality. And that mentality is about the team and about our identity. And when he does things, it makes everybody else think, ‘Okay, that’s acceptable.’ We go and we celebrate any play that we make. We want to celebrate as a team, and hopefully we score, we go and celebrate. And it’s hard to score in this league. It’s tough. And when we do, we want to be able to celebrate and not just think, oh, we just… When the quarterback does things, everybody else says, ‘Oh, that must be the right thing to do.'”
You’re not one to do the predictions thing, but what are the expectations? Because I feel like the outside world and the national media is looking at you guys and they think, ‘okay, they’ve got Mike Vrabel. They’re going to be good. But what’s the truth?
“Yeah, that’s never going to be the case. We have to work and we have to compete. I’ve said this multiple times in this league. We’re never going to accept losing, but we have to embrace moving on. Whether we win or whether we lose, we have to continue to move ahead and figure out what the next challenge is. And so whatever the predictions are or the expectations, the expectations are that we compete, that we try to be good enough to take advantage of bad football, that we’re not beating ourselves, that there is a rhythm to what we’re doing, that there’s a flow to what we do, and that the players, again, they’re the ones that establish the identity. I can talk about it until I’m blue in the face. They are the ones that – it’s their identity. And hopefully, once you build something, you protect it because it’s yours. You build a home, you protect it, you build a family, you protect it. And that’s what we talk about.”
What’s the identity of this defense? What’s the best thing you’ve seen from them at this point?
“From the first game, I think that we played hard. I think that we finished. I think guys enjoyed being with each other. It’s a group that hasn’t been together long. There’s a bunch of new faces. Some guys have been in and out. But I think there was a joy to playing. We had a sudden change opportunity. Again, whoever was on the other side against for the Commanders, that doesn’t matter. They went out there. They didn’t complain about having to go out there on the 30-yard line, forced them to lose a couple of yards. They missed a field goal. So again, these are the things that are important to me, that wherever we have to play defense, our job is to go play defense.”
Well, this was the most serious conversation I think I’ve ever had with you in 10 years.
“Well, you started talking about things, and then I veer off into coach-speak…”
No, it was a little coach-speaky, but it’s all fair. I can see, and I think people listening and watching you understand what you’re trying to build. So we got to have a little fun, so I figured we’d do 50 seconds for your 50th.
“50 seconds for my 50th?”
Right.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to get through this in 50 seconds.”
Words are not our problems ever. In fact, I think we both probably talk a little too much, but we can do it. Start the clock. There’s no clock.
“No, good. I was like, I’m looking for the clock.”
Just pretend. You probably have one naturally in your head as a coach. Can I borrow your whistle?
“No.”
Please? For every time a new question…
“No one wants to see this thing.”
That is nasty. All right, here we go. First thing you check on your phone in the morning.
“I’ve meant 50 seconds of TikTok and then Twitter for news.”
So TikTok, Twitter, and then eventually text and call, Your coffee order is?
“Quantaspresso. I get it in downtown. I get it in the Back Bay. It’s the grab and go. I think it’s on Boylston.”
That gets you through the day?
“No, it gets me to work. It doesn’t get me through the day. It gets me to the stadium.”
Your best karaoke performance in the last 10 years.
“So big time this year, Tahoe, third place, Mr. Brightside.”
Wait, wait. I thought you’d say I had never done karaoke.
“Co-contributor, Kevin Millar. Okay. But the best part of the story …
Mr..Brightside, okay. It’s a good one.
“Yeah, it was great because I was like, ‘Let’s just go with audience participation. We can’t be serious. We have to do a song that the audience is then going to embrace, which then will sway the judges.’ Somebody asked them 30 seconds before we go on, this girl, there was like a green room. It was like a tent. It was like a pop-up tent. There was no green room. I’m just kidding. She said, What are you singing? He goes, ‘Mr. Blindside.’ I go, ‘We are screwed.’ You don’t even know the name of the song. You don’t even know the name of the song, Kevin.’ I’m like, ‘it’s not the movie The Blind Side. It’s Mr. Bright, and we crushed it.
Well, even more embarrassing.
“The audience loved it.”
For the last 20 years, I thought that at the end of that song, when he’s like, ‘I never.’ I thought he was saying Diana.
“No, it’s ‘I never.'”
It’s ‘I never.’ People text me all the time, and when that song’s playing them screaming into their phone because I’m an idiot. One word players use to describe you, your players here in New England, what do you think they would use?
“Well, ‘crazy’ is one word, and I would say ‘out of his mind.’ If you could just put a bunch of hyphens in there, I would imagine that.”
I can tell English was definitely your best subject. If you could ban one question-
“Spanish was actually my best subject.”
Seriously?
“Yes.”
Why were you so good at that?
“Because my high school football coach taught Spanish, so I took two years of Spanish from Gerry Rardin. That’s why it was my best class.”
So answer this in Spanish. What’s the one question that you wish Stacey James would ban the Patriots Media from asking you?
“About injuries. Of course.”
Of course. How do you say injuries in Spanish?
“La Injurea.”
I think that’s it. Your wife, Jen, is a superb athlete.
“I would say used to be.”
Maybe used to be, but she still got it in her. I’m sure, the way you do. Which sports do you think Jen could beat you at now?
“Ping-pong.”
Ping-pong. Have you ever done it with her?
“Mm-hmm.”
And she beats you? Fair and square?
“I get too aggressive.”
Yeah, I can see that.
“After it’s two volleys, I just try to kill it.
You are known for picking at things. Remember in Tennessee, players used to tell me the littlest, smallest things would drive you crazy. I’m sure nothing’s changed here in New England. Is there something outside football that drives Mike Vrabel nuts?
“Yes. People, when they leave their carts in the middle of the parking lot, and they don’t take them back to the cart return.”
That’s a good one.
“Then the people at Starbucks that park in a handicapped spot and go in there and try to get their order from the mobile order.”
Who aren’t handicapped?
“By no means handicapped. I look in the dash, I look, and then I wait. Then I approach them. And I say things like, ‘Why did you park here?’ One person would be like, ‘I’m with DoorDash.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t care. That’s unacceptable.’ And then there’s the mom that’s going to yoga, and she’s rushing because she’s late. I’m like, ‘This is ridiculous.'”
So you’re policing the parking lot for people that are-
“I accost them. When I didn’t have a job, I had nothing else to do. I’m like, I could sit here for 15 minutes, wait for this person to come out, and actually see if they’re handicapped, and that they don’t have a license or anything.”
Wait, you check their licenses?
“Well, sometimes it’s on the license and it’s not on the placard.”
No, you mean on the plate? The plate that it’s handicapped?
“Yeah, the plate. Just try to… Citizens arrest.”
If there was a way you could actually punish them, what would you do?
“I’d slash their tires. That’s how much it bothers me.”
Maybe a boot?
“I wish I had a boot. That’s a great idea. I would boot their car, just like a mobile boot that said, ‘I parked in a handicap spot and I’m not handicapped.'”
Well, The good news is, I think society will appreciate you when you decide to retire, because I think I know exactly where you will be, and that is in the parking lot of a Starbucks making sure people are parking in the right spots.
“I mean, it’s mind boggling.”
It really truly is. I’m sorry to get you all riled up on your birthday. Coach, good luck this season.
“Yeah, thank you.”
Thanks for hanging out. First time on Scoop City. I didn’t have you on last year because you weren’t a coach.
“Fair enough.”
But you’re back. So I appreciate you being on the show. We will see you soon Good luck.
“You got a great crew, and I wish you the best of luck.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE: This transcript was done based on the available footage and is subject to typographical errors. If you spot anything, please let me know in the comments below.)
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