Players and opponents would do well not to go at new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel. Former Pats QB Brian Hoyer knows that well.

As a former player, coach Mike Vrabel always had connections to the New England Patriots organization, and that was probably enough to get him a coaching job with the team earlier. However, he felt a need to leave New England and build his own path to an eventual

Now, with O’Brien revitalizing BC and Vrabel looking to do the same with the Patriots, the area’s most prominent football teams are led by men who bonded in Foxborough.