Coach Mike Vrabel is ushering in a new era for the New England Patriots. Vrabel will start by bringing back an old face to run the offense.
Jerod Mayo, the New England Patriots’ first-year head coach, was quickly relieved of his responsibilities. Mayo had a single season with a 4-13 record. It’s possible that Mayo suffered because the Patriots were able to acquire the coach they truly desired after they fired Bill Belichick.
Mike Vrabel was hired by the Patriots to be their head coach, and he has quickly put together a staff.
What hiring Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator means for the Patriots
The New England Patriots’ old offensive coordinator has been named their new one. The vacancy on the staff of new head coach Mike Vrabel will be filled by Josh McDaniels, who has already served in the role twice.
Five years after joining the Patriots as a personnel assistant in 2001, McDaniels was appointed offensive coordinator for the first time. After a brief absence for unsuccessful stints as the head coach of the Denver Broncos and the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, he returned to New England in 2012 and, along with quarterback Tom Brady, guided the offense to its three most recent Super Bowl victories.
In 2022, McDaniels departed once more to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, but he returned to Foxboro three years later. Let’s evaluate the impact of the move on the team.
Mike Vrabel’s wish comes true
Mike Vrabel outlined his ideal offensive scheme in his initial round of media appearances following his appointment as head coach. He used the word “versatility,” which Josh McDaniels, an offensive coordinator, will be able to supply.
“The versatility. The versatility of scheme,” he said. “We need to make sure the players on our team are able to execute what we’re asking them to do. And if they can’t, then we can adjust the scheme.
“We want to be versatile. We want to be flexible. But coming back down to being a great teacher, being a great developer, and then inspiring players to do their job better by making a connection. That’s the point.”
McDaniels has demonstrated the ability to frequently reimagine his unit on the fly during his 13 years as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator. In the mid-2000s, he spearheaded the NFL’s spread revolution. In the early 2010s, he introduced two-tight end sets. During the 2018 Super Bowl run, he switched to a ground-and-pound strategy. In 2020, he and Cam Newton created a sophisticated quarterback run game.
It’s unclear what the Patriots’ offense will look like in 2025, but McDaniels has a wealth of playcalling experience and a deep playbook to offer.
Drake Maye’s new mentor
McDaniels had previously been the quarterbacks coach for the Patriots in 12 of his 13 seasons as offensive coordinator. It is currently unknown if he will have the same title in 2025, but he will collaborate closely with the team’s quarterbacks regardless of the title.
Naturally, Drake Maye is the most significant of those quarterbacks. After demonstrating significant promise as a rookie, the Patriots’ first-round draft pick from the previous season will now have the opportunity to work with one of the most successful offensive coordinators in NFL history.
In the meantime, McDaniels has demonstrated that he can bring out the best in his quarterbacks. Tom Brady is undoubtedly the most notable, but he also contributed to the development of Matt Cassel, Jimmy Garoppolo, Jacoby Brissett, a free agent who is still on the New England roster, and Mac Jones into viable starting quarterbacks in the NFL. As previously mentioned, he also changed his offense in 2020 to accommodate Cam Newton.
Given that Maye has shown himself to be a dangerous player with the ball in his hands, it would not be shocking if McDaniels included aspects of that 2020 offense in his 2025 attack. Additionally, he will return to the fundamentals of his former Patriots offense.
The quarterback will also be under more pressure. In contrast to other offensive schemes that limit a quarterback’s pre-snap responsibilities, McDaniels has always valued his quarterbacks being able to call plays and set protection on their own.
“I love the idea of having the quarterback able to understand it all,” he explained on Julian Edelman’s Games With Names podcast last year.
The key is stability.
Since his first stint with the Patriots from 2006 to 2008, McDaniels has been one of the NFL’s most successful offensive coordinators, but it doesn’t seem like he will be leaving to become a head coach anytime soon. Regardless of his success in New England, organizations may be reluctant to bring him in after his disappointing stints in Denver and Las Vegas.
This implies that matching him with Drake Maye has a positive long-term outlook. Maye will probably get to work with his offensive coordinator for more than a year, unlike Mac Jones, who showed promise as a rookie in 2021 but was unable to advance after McDaniels left for the Raiders in 2022.
Attention turns to assistant coaches.
Now that the Patriots have occupied the most crucial position on their offensive coaching staff, the question is who will coach McDaniels’ position. He and Mike Vrabel have a long NFL history, so there are many names to choose from.
Here are some that we will continue to monitor:
Quarterback: T.C. McCartney, Alex Van Pelt, Bo Hardegree, Jerry Schuplinski, Scott Turner
Running back: Tony Dews, Nick Charlton, Justin Outten
Wide receiver: Wes Welker, Chad O’Shea, Mick Lombardi, Edgar Bennett, Shawn Jefferson
Tight end: Luke Steckel, Nick Caley
Offensive line: Robert Kugler, James Ferentz, Cameron Clemmons, Zak Kromer, Jason Houghtaling, Keith Carter, Andy Dickerson, Mike Sullivan
The Patriots’ 2024 offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Alex Van Pelt and T.C. McCartney, are two coaches who merit further consideration. They both contributed well to Drake Maye’s development and could be kept in a different arrangement.
Ben McAdoo and Evan Rothstein are two other names that are worth mentioning. While the latter was a senior offensive assistant, the former was the director of game management and the coach of the assistant quarterbacks. Both appear to still be employed today and may eventually find positions under McDaniels. This is especially true for Rothstein, who joined the new OC on the Patriots’ 2021 staff.
No payroll concerns
When the Indianapolis Colts announced him as their next head coach too soon in 2018, the Patriots were able to keep him on board by paying him the highest of any offensive coordinator in the NFL. Because the Raiders are still paying him, he will also receive a good salary this time around.
He signed a six-year contract to become the head coach of Las Vegas back in 2022. In accordance with that contract, he will be retained by the team for an additional three seasons, during which the Patriots may be able to acquire him at a significantly reduced cost.
Is the position of coordinator filled?
The Patriots now have two coordinator positions filled with McDaniels expected to take over the offense and Jeremy Springer reportedly staying on as special teams coach. Additionally, it appears that No. 3 won’t be open for very long.
The Patriots are reportedly “targeting” Terrell Williams, an assistant for the Detroit Lions, to be their next defensive coordinator. Williams was appointed Mike Vrabel’s assistant head coach in 2023 after serving as the defensive line coach for the Tennessee Titans for six years. New England will have promptly filled its most critical coaching positions if he is selected to be DC.