Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla invited a special guest to the Auerbach Center for his team’s practice on Saturday: New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel was hired as the Patriots next coach in January, becoming the newest hire among Boston’s major professional sports teams. Mazzulla said that he does not know Vrabel well, but is interested in forming a brotherhood between the coaches of the city’s four professional sports teams.
“The four people that have these jobs (in Boston), for however long they have it, there has to be a brotherhood there,” Mazzulla told the media on Saturday. “We’re all carrying a responsibility to compete at a high level and to bring championships to this city.”
“It was great,” Mazzulla said. “He obviously brings a championship perspective. Any time you can get together with guys that are in the same arena as we are, I think that’s important.”
Boston has been one of the most successful sports cities over the last 15 years. The Celtics are the reigning NBA champions, the Boston Red Sox won titles in 2013 and ’18, and the Patriots won three Super Bowls in ’14, ’16 and ’18. Though Vrabel is just starting as New England’s head coach, he did win three Super Bowls as a player with the Patriots in the 2000s, a championship pedigree that made him a welcome hire for New England.