On Tuesday, Mike Vrabel made his first appearance on WEEI 93.7 in Boston since officially being introduced by the organization as the next head coach of the New England Patriots.
Near the end of his appearance on The Greg Hill Show, Vrabel was informed by Greg Hill that they had someone calling into the show, a man named “Billy” from Chestnut Hill, which is the town where Boston College is located.
“Billy” was none other than Bill O’Brien, the former quarterback coach and play-caller of the New England Patriots offensive coordinator for Vrabel’s final season in New England in 2008. He wanted to both congratulate Vrabel on his new job and entice him to come to Boston College’s Pro Day.
“Let’s go to Billy in Chestnut Hill,” said Greg Hill. “Hey, Billy.”
“Hey, first-time caller, longtime listener,” said O’Brien, which got a chuckle out of Vrabel who quickly caught onto O’Brien’s true identity. “Let’s go Patriots! How we doing guys? Hey Vrabs.”
“You got any players up there yet Billy? Are we finding any players?” asked Vrabel.
“We do man,” replied O’Brien. “Hey man, you gotta come to our Pro Day and speak to our team. I’ve already got dibs on that. But I’m excited for Mike. I’m excited for the Patriots. It’s gonna be awesome. No question.”
Vrabel was equally as complimentary of O’Brien and the job he has done at Boston College thus far before going into some stories about playing under O’Brien.
“Boston College is in good hands,” said Vrabel. “They have a great coaching staff. Great leadership. Got great facilities. They redid the facilities a couple of years ago. It’s unbelievable. You know, I could tell you some stories about working for Billy O. They used to call him the teapot. He would go off and then 30 seconds later he would be like ‘What’s wrong with you guys, why are you guys looking at me?’ I’m like Billy, you just cussed out every one of us for 30 seconds and now you are looking at us like what’s wrong? So the teapot would just boil over and then he was fine.”
Much has been made about the Patriots coaching search and how they handled the Rooney Rule. Regardless, Vrabel sure seems to have the full support of Patriots alumni like O’Brien as he heads into the 2025-26 season.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.