New Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is making some big changes to the way the team operates, as he announced some rules to his players in his introductory speech to players.

Vrabel, a three-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots as a player, has been tasked with turning around a franchise that has gone 26-42 over the last four seasons with just one playoff berth.

And the former linebacker has wasted little time laying down some ground rules, as he told players to be on time, lower their hoods during meetings and keep their cell phones away during team activities.

Vrabel, who previously went 54-45 as the coach of the тιтans, started his speech by asking players to ‘respect the football team and the people that are here’ before getting into specifics.

In mentioning tardiness, Vrabel called out a player named ‘Christian’ for not being on time (there are three people named Christian on the roster: Christian Elliss, Christian Gonzalez and Christian Barmore).

‘Be on time,’ Vrabel said in the speech, which was originally posted by the Patriots Español account before seemingly being deleted.

Mike Vrabel laid down some new ground rules to his Patriots players in his first speech to them

Vrabel was introduced as the team’s new coach in January. He previously coached the тιтans

Mike Vrabel with a fantastic introductory speech to the Patriots players. Leader of men. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/6nLvoAKaCM

— Savage (@SavageSports_) April 9, 2025

‘We just talked about time. Be on time. And if I can’t be on time, Christian, what’s the easiest thing to do? You would just call. Right? You would just call and communicate. All you got to do is say, ‘Hey, something came up.’ OK? ‘I’m going to be a little bit late.”

Vrabel admitted that such reasoning would start ‘wearing off’ at a certain point, before he got into the topic of cell phones.

The coach told players to leave their phones in their bags during meetings, and also asked for them to be placed on the counter or left in the locker room during weight-lifting sessions.

‘We’ve all got cell phones,’ he said. ‘Most of you have more than one, as a matter of fact. Just leave the cell phone in your bag. 

‘But just put the phone away. And if it rings, don’t start coughing. I’ve been in this league for 25 years, we all know when a cell phone goes off … we don’t need to start coughing and doing that s***. 

Vrabel later spoke of his goal for his players to ‘protect’ and be ‘proud’ of the team’s program, and also to win the AFC East.

The Patriots haven’t won the AFC East since 2019, when Bill Belichick was in charge

Jerod Mayo took over for Belichick but lasted just one season as the team won four games

As the coach mentioned to his players, the Patriots haven’t won the division since 2019, and Vrabel said some things would be changing from that regime, when franchise icon Bill Belichick was still in charge (before being replaced by Jerod Mayo for just one season).

‘We’re building our own idenтιтy, we’re building our own team, we’re building our own program. There’s gonna be things within that that are different. There’s gonna be things within that are the same.’

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Vrabel also went on to stress how he expected his players to show the ‘utmost respect’ to the training staff, equipment staff and kitchen staff. 

‘They are here to help you do your jobs,’ he said. ‘They aren’t here to be your valet, to be your housekeeper, to be your maid, to be your butler… we’re going to treat those people with the utmost respect.’

Before being fired after the 2023 season, Vrabel had established a strong reputation as a coach in Tennessee, as he won two AFC South тιтles and made the AFC Championship Game during the 2019 postseason.

With the Patriots drafting at No. 4 later this month, he’ll look to add a playmaker who can get New England closer to contention again.