Patriots' $7,790,000 DE takes shots at Jerod Mayo after comparing Mike Vrabel and Bill Belichick

After a disappointing season under Jerod Mayo, the New England Patriots are hoping to bounce back to the top with Mike Vrabel. The team's defensive end, Keion White, appears to have accepted his new coach with open arms. He even compared him to legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Following his stint as a linebacker, Mayo joined New England as its inside linebacker coach in 2019. In January 2024, he was promoted to head coach. The Patriots' fans have high expectations of Mayo, but he couldn't deliver as New England finished with a 4-13 record.

In January, the franchise announced that it would be replacing Mayo with Vrabel. White, who is signed to a four-year $7,790,000 contract, made his feelings known about Vrabel, taking a cheeky jab at Mayo.

"Now, I feel like I have a coach," White said on Tuedsay. "I like Mike. He leads with work. I can respect that. It's similar to Bill (Belichick), just with a younger face. I think we all know how I feel about that; I liked him.”

Patriots new HC Mike Vrabel has similar traits to Bill Belichick

Mike Vrabel has a no-nonsense approach when it comes to coaching the New England Patriots, and recently gave a fiery speech to his team. Fans and experts noticed how similar Vrabel sounded to Bill Belichick.

"We don't care how you got here," Vrabel said on Saturday. "You don't care how I got here, I don't care how you got here. The only thing that matters is what we do while we're here. All that matters is if you can line up and f***ing do your job."

The Patriots have only made the playoffs once in the last five years. However, with the backing of his players, it'll be interesting to see how far Vrabel takes the team next season.