New England’s post-Brady era has been rougher than a Boston winter. First came the QB carousel. The Pats could not find any stability with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe. Then Bill Belichick’s magic faded faster than a Gillette Stadium beer buzz. By 2023, even diehards knew: this wasn’t just a rebuild. It was an identity crisis. So, last winter, after Belichick bid adieu to his beloved Patriots, Robert Kraft turned to someone who had long been there. Enter Jerod Mayo, the Pats’ former LB who turned HC and was handed the task of reviving the team’s dynasty.

Four wins. That’s all the mighty Patriots could scrape together last year in what might be the most humiliating season in recent franchise history. Now, you can blame the QB carousel or the lack of star power on the roster. But according to someone who’s been inside the building since the glory days, the problem ran much deeper than just talent. NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran, who’s been chronicling the Patriots since Belichick was still figuring out how to work the hoodie strings, just delivered a truth bomb on The Rich Eisen Show.

You want to know what caused last season’s trainwreck? It wasn’t just bad QB play or lack of talent. It was something far more dangerous eating away at the foundation. A creeping culture of complacency that would’ve gotten guys cut during the glory days. “There was a lax attitude that seeped through the team,” Curran said. 

“Last year was [Jerod] Mayo with Alex Van Pelt and DeMarcus Covington in their first years as coordinators… They set such a low bar with the media – ‘It’s going to be a building year’ – that the message became ‘This year really doesn’t matter,” the insider added, taking a shot at Robert Kraft. Flashback to August 2023: Robert Kraft said, “This is a building year. I hope we don’t struggle.” Tom puts it that this ‘building year’ mindset is exactly what poisoned everything. And the ‘hope we don’t struggle’ became permission to accept mediocrity.

But now, that loser mentality is getting its eviction notice. And the new sheriff in town has zero patience for “building years” or half-hearted efforts.

Mike Vrabel’s no-nonsense reset

This year, New England is cutting that attitude. The team doesn’t just look different under Mike Vrabel; they sound different. Gone is the ‘teaching camp’ softness of the Belichick sunset years. Forgotten are the rookie-coach training wheels of 2023. What’s happening in Foxboro now? Pure, uncut accountability, the kind that’s got veterans straightening their backs the second Vrabel’s shadow hits the practice field.

Tom Curran put it bluntly on The Rich Eisen Show, “This year, Mike [Vrabel] is extremely urgent with everything he’s doing. He’s not talking like Bill used to talk about, ‘This is a teaching camp, it’s not competitive every day.’ Mike is talking about competition every day.” But here’s what matters: Vrabel didn’t come alone. He brought a “fleet of experienced coaches” (Curran’s words) who speak the same ruthless language, from Doug Marrone’s O-line grunts to Josh McDaniels’ playbook IQ. 

“It’s far more organized… You have experienced coaches on the offensive line, experienced coaches in the wide receiver room.” This isn’t just new energy. It’s a full-system reboot where winning is not optional. After all, Vrabel’s not here for participation trophies. When Tom Curran said the new coach is ‘extremely urgent’ and demands ‘competition every day,’ he meant it. The Patriots’ OTAs look like boot camp, veterans getting called out, drills at full tilt, zero tolerance for ‘stupid things’.

After last year’s circus, it’s a wake-up call the whole organization needed. Turns out culture doesn’t just rebuild itself. Either Vrabel’s brand of tough love brings back the Patriots’ missing edge, or Kraft’s ‘building year’ becomes the new normal, and nobody in New England’s ready for that.