Coming off of Drake Maye’s rookie season, the lone bright spot from the New England Patriots 4-13 finish is the fact they head into 2025 with Maye having seen a decent amount of growth during 2024.
The man responsible for most of that development is offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, who spent a lot of time with Maye throughout that process. The two certainly developed a solid bond, and the rookie repeatedly backed his coach amid the media criticism that came up throughout what was obviously a tumultuous year.
One of the biggest concerns last spring as the club searched for an offensive coordinator was to hopefully find someone who could grow with Maye and be with him for the long-haul. At the time, new head coach Jerod Mayo was considered the long-term person among the coaching staff, while the worry might be whether or not whoever the Patriots hired to run the offense might be someone who could be poached at some point, disrupting any continuity with their rookie quarterback.
The hiring of Van Pelt quelled some of that concern for both the right and wrong reasons. Van Pelt, who called plays for the first time as a coordinator in 2024, wasn’t a highly sought after coach. As a result, he also wasn’t someone people feared would be a head coaching candidate.
There was certainly a fair amount of skepticism following his hiring, and he was under the microscope and was criticized in the early going. Most of that criticism came due to what many felt was conservative play calling, especially in the weeks following Maye’s ascension into the starting role.
However, Van Pelt grew as the year went on and despite a brutal group up front along the offensive line and the inconsistency we saw week-after-week at receiver, he loosened the reins on Maye.
The Patriots ultimately took a fair amount of shots downfield with Maye, albeit with limited success. Overall, on passes of 15 yards or more, Maye hit 14-of-49 (29%) for 404 yards along with 5 TDs and 4 INTs. Still, those plays he did hit were a sign of what could be to come, provided the team does bring in some weapons this offseason.
The club also increased its use of pre-snap motion, and there was a clear evolution in the offense throughout the season. In fact, as the year progressed, the frustration shifted away from the offense and instead to the defense, which allowed 110 points over the final four games, the 6th highest amount in the league given up over that span.
Meanwhile, with Mayo’s tenure coming to an abrupt end, it leaves Van Pelt’s future in question. Greg Bedard of The Boston Sports Journal was asked in a recent podcast by co-host Nick Cattles if it’s possible that Van Pelt might be kept on staff with the next coach as possibly the team’s quarterback coach. Bedard wouldn’t rule it out, but he feels it may be unlikely.
“I don’t completely rule it out,” said Bedard. “But again, it depends on the marriage. Who’s the offensive coordinator, and does he work with that system?”
“I think it would be – if it was an old school, West Coast guy … I think it’s possible if he doesn’t have any other options. But I wouldn’t say it’s probable.”
The Patriots interviewed Mike Vrabel on Thursday for their head coaching vacancy, with the Lion’s Ben Johnson reportedly set for today. With the club having faced significant criticism for its handling of this current hiring process, it remains to be seen if they’ll extend their search beyond these candidates, or if a decision could be forthcoming in the not-too-distant future.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
“… he [Van Pelt] loosened the reigns on Maye.”
Um, one loosens or tightens the REINS, not the reigns.
Appreciate you pointing that out. It’s one of those words that I didn’t catch as I was editing it, so thank you for taking a moment to drop a note so I could correct it and hope you have a good weekend.
PLay calling when your team is limited and can’t block on offense gets conservative. If you have pressure on the QB, you throw short. Run screens. Run the ball to keep the down/distance short. That happened at times in the dynasty years in certain game matchups against good opponenet defenses. Conversely when your team can functionally block, run and pass then your way more aggresive. Especially with downfield plays. The media knows this so I don’t why anyone would try and think you can just be aggressive and wing the ball all over when your team can’t do it…and accordingly… Read more »