Mike Vrabel makes bold Patriots call Bill Belichick never would have approved

Throughout the two decades that Bill Belichick was the head coach and presumed general manager of the New England Patriots, there were many things the team didn't participate in for one reason or another. Other than Belichick never allowing his likeness to be used in NFL video games, he was also never interested in giving television networks real access to the team, specifically HBO's Hard Knocks.

Although they didn't exactly fit the typical criteria for a team that would be on the show, as most have been struggling teams looking to regain relevance, that wasn't the case every year.

It's certainly not HBO's decision, given their latest announcements about which teams will be featured over the next two seasons of the show, with the Seahawks slated for this summer and the Patriots for the 2027 offseason.

It's a huge shift from the Belichick era, who didn't even like players to film anything for social media in the locker room. While it was understandable, it doesn't keep up with the use of social media today, and perhaps that's something the Vrabel staff is trying to lean into.

This will be the first time the Patriots are featured on the series, and it's certainly quite a change for the historically private franchise.

The Patriots being featured on Hard Knocks proves big changes are still coming under Mike Vrabel

This announcement is just the latest example of how drastically different things are in Foxboro under Mike Vrabel than they have been before.

We saw glimpses of significant change during the one year Jerod Mayo was in charge, but other than keeping some of Belichick's wisest football knowledge as the foundation of their organization, Vrabel is slowly but surely making the Patriots his team and catching up to the modern era.

That is something the players will appreciate, as they have predominantly grown up with social media being a big part of everyday life. Not to mention, Hard Knocks has become a yearly tradition for players and fans to watch, giving Patriots fans the first opportunity to really see how their favorite team would be portrayed on the show.

They gave them a good look at that already by releasing Forged in Foxborough over the past year, with the latest episode being released a few weeks after the unfortunate loss to the Seahawks in Super Bowl LX.

That was a never-before-seen behind-the-scenes documentary that would never have happened if Belichick were still around, and it's beyond clear now that Vrabel intends to keep that going.