David Andrews heads into the 2025 regular season ranked 49th all-time with 124 game appearances as a member of the New England Patriots. One place and one game ahead of him on the list? His new head coach, Mike Vrabel.
Even though the two are among the most successful players in franchise history, Andrews and Vrabel have only previously crossed paths as opponents. The former has been New England’s starting center since 2016, the latter has worked as an assistant coach for the Houston Texans and as head coach of the Tennessee Titans since his retirement in 2011.
And yet, they already bring a clear connection with their new partnership. Andrews and Vrabel both played under longtime Patriots head coach Bill Belichick — something the latter can’t hide, according to the former.
“I haven’t spent a lot of time with him yet, obviously, but you listen to his press conference, there’s a lot of things that Bill said,” Andrews said in a new episode of his Quick snapshot podcast.
“Even with Jerod (Mayo), Bill said a lot of things. I think people will say, “Oh, people try to be like Bill.” » That’s not it for me. There were footballing truths in what Bill was saying. …Maybe Bill had a unique way of presenting them, but it was the truth.”
Vrabel originally joined the Patriots as a free agent in 2001 and, over the course of eight seasons, became a cornerstone of the team’s first dynasty. Even though he left the organization via trade in 2009 and hasn’t been associated with it since, his football education under Belichick still shines through.
One concrete example mentioned by Andrews and co-host Brian Hoyer was in reference to a video posted by former Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan. In the clip, Lewan tries to prepare Patriots players for what they can expect from Vrabel as head coach — which sounds a lot like how Belichick operated during his 24 seasons in New England.
For Andrews, going from Belichick to Mayo to Vrabel will therefore carry a certain element of continuity. These “football truths” he mentioned are one of them.
“Vrabel said in his press conference that these banners in our stadium won’t help us win, but they are – I forget what he said – a reminder, a plan. And that’s the truth.” , he said.
“What you’ve done in the past, even if you win the Super Bowl this year, it’s not going to help you win in 2025. It’s over. It’s a return to square one. It’s a race. These are just truths in football.
