Vrabel was introduced as Patriots head coach earlier this week.

David Andrews heads toward the 2025 regular season ranked 49th all-time with 124 in-game appearances as a member of the New England Patriots. One spot and 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 previously only crossed paths as opponents. The former has been New England’s starting center since 2016, the latter worked as an assistant coach with the Houston Texans and as head coach with the Tennessee Titans since his retirement in 2011.

And yet, they already bring one obvious connection to their new partnership. Both Andrews and Vrabel played under long-time Patriots head coach Bill Belichick — something the latter cannot hide, according to the former.

“I haven’t spent tons of time with him yet, obviously, but you listen to his press conference, there’s a lot of things that Bill said, “Andrews said on a new episode of his Quick Snap podcast.

“Even with Jerod [Mayo] there were a lot of things that Bill said. I think people will be like, ‘Oh, people try to be like Bill.’ It’s not that to me. There were football truths in what Bill said. … Maybe Bill had a unique way of presenting those, but it was the truth.”

Vrabel originally joined the Patriots as a free agent in 2001, and over the course of eight seasons developed into a cornerstone of the team’s early dynasty. Even though he left the organization via trade in 2009 and has not been associated with it since, his football upbringing 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 is trying to prepare Patriots players for what they can expect from Vrabel as their head coach — which sounds a lot like how Belichick was operating during his 24 seasons in New England.

For Andrews, moving from Belichick to Mayo to Vrabel will therefore have a certain element of continuity to it. Those “football truths” he mentioned are part of that.

“Vrabel said in his press conference that those banners in our stadium aren’t going to help us win, but they’re — I forget what he said — a reminder, a blueprint. And that’s the truth,” he said.

“What you’ve done in the past, even if you win the Super Bowl this year, that’s not going to help you win in 2025. It’s all over. It’s back to square one. It’s a race. Those are just truths in football.”