The New England Patriots head coach has seen this stage before as a former player, but it'll be his first as a head coach, leading him to seek guidance from some legend coaches.
The New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks aren’t new to Sunday’s stage, but for both head coaches in Super Bowl LX, it marks a first. Neither Patriots coach Mike Vrabel nor Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald has made the Super Bowl as a head coach. Vrabel, at least, is familiar with both winning and losing one from his playing days in New England. And Vrabel has also led the Tennessee Titans all the way to an AFC Championship, previously. But he’s never been this far as a coach. Rather than head in somewhat blind, Vrabel tapped in seek advice from some greats.
The Athletic's Dianna Russini reported that Vrabel touched base with former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, and current Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid – who he lost to in that 2020 AFC Championship. In addition, Vrabel has sought out pointers from offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has won six Super Bowls as an assistant coach for the franchise, and will be entering his tenth Super Bowl. Now, it’s not clear whether this was a specific pointer given, but Vrabel went out of his way to simulate the halftime conditions in the team’s final practice session. He sent them to the locker room for a simulated halftime for 14 minutes while he blared Bad Bunny’s music, the halftime performer, over the speakers at their practice field in Stanford.
Here is the full story from Pats Roundtable writer Tyler Geis on Vrabel’s attention to detail and tactics in the team’s final hours of preparation.
Both Belichick and Reid have employed that tactic, with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes specifically crediting it with their Super Bowl LVII comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles. We’ll see if it pays off for New England in their 12th Super Bowl appearance Sunday night.