Mike Vrabel Joined By Celtics Championship Winner At Latest Practice
Mike Vrabel is looking to usher in a new era of success with the New England Patriots. If he wants to get the team back to the top of the mountain in the NFL, though, it wouldn’t hurt to get some advice from another championship winner, even if he’s not affiliated with football.
That appears to be what Vrabel set out to accomplish on Wednesday morning at the team’s latest practice. When the three-time Super Bowl champion strolled out to the practice field, he was accompanied by Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who led the team to a championship in 2024.
This isn’t to say that Vrabel doesn’t know what it takes to win it all in the NFL, because that’s certainly not true. However, different people offer different perspectives, and there may not be anyone with a more unique perspective on life than Mazzulla.
After spending three seasons with the Celtics as an assistant coach, Mazzulla was thrust into the head coach job after the team surprisingly suspended Ime Udoka ahead of the 2022-23 campaign. While they came up just short of advancing to the 2023 NBA Finals, Mazzulla got them there in 2024, where they defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games.
Since returning to New England, Vrabel has been eager to embrace the community. That involves forming a relationship with Mazzulla, who has enjoyed a great deal of success early in his head coaching career.
At the end of the day, it will be on Vrabel to guide the Patriots back to the postseason, which they have an outside shot of accomplishing during his first year in charge. However, fans will love to see Mazzulla attending practice, and there’s a decent chance the players were happy to see him, too.