Vrabel also has leaned heavily on Josh McDaniels due to his experience in this kind of game.
Super Bowl LX is upon us. As a player, Mike Vrabel has seen what winning and losing this game can feel like as a player. As a coach, he needed some guidance.
Vrabel has gone far in the postseason. He led the Tennessee Titans to an AFC Championship game in early 2020, only to fall short against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Super Bowl is the furthest he has gotten in his coaching career, and since the 2025 AP Coach of the Year has many strong ties to other head coaches, he must have felt obliged to reach out.
According to The Athletic's Dianna Russini, who reported in her "What I'm hearing" column, Vrabel has touched base with both former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid ahead of the big game for some pregame pointers.
He has also been leaning heavily on offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who has been to the big dance a few times as well. Winning six Super Bowls as an assistant coach for the team.
“Vrabel reached out to Belichick and fellow Super Bowl-winning coach Andy Reid, tapping into their experience as he gets ready for the big game,” Russini wrote in her column. “New England’s first-year leader also has an experienced advisor on staff. Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is heading into his 10th (!) Super Bowl. Vrabel has been asking McDaniels for advice on preparations and other things to consider on Sunday.”
If Belichick and Reid did give Vrabel any tips, one of them was the news that he played 14 minutes of Bad Bunny's music at their practice field at Stanford Stadium while the team went into the locker room. This was done to simulate what halftime would feel like.
Belichick and Reid have done this multiple times throughout their tenures with the Patriots and Chiefs, respectively, when their teams reached the Super Bowl. Patrick Mahomes even attributed the tactic to their Super Bowl LVII comeback win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Vrabel is most likely not thinking about the shoes he has to fill in terms of coaches like Belichick and Reid, but if the help is there in terms of tactics to help your team locked in, why not take the advice if that is indeed what transpired?
We'll see if the halftime simulation pays off for the Patriots as the franchise's 12th Super Bowl appearance draws closer.