With the belief that Mike Vrabel remains at the top of the New England Patriots’ wish list, the next question is clearly going to be who will be the person leading the offense here in New England.
That question is critical for obvious reasons, since that person will essentially be in charge of continuing Drake Maye’s development. Alex Van Pelt deserves a lot of credit for that process this season, and as his status here with the team remains in question, the Patriots have to make sure they bring in the right person to make sure Maye doesn’t take a step back after what was a promising rookie season.
Who that will be is now the thing everyone is wondering. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is reportedly set to interview with the team today, which comes one day following Vrabel’s own in-person interview. According to reports, the belief is that if Johnson was to be hired, it would likely be former Jaguars quarterback Mark Brunell – who is currently the Lions’ QB coach under Johnson – who would potentially come to New England under Johnson.
As a former quarterback, Brunell knows the position and there’s likely been some influence when it comes to Jared Goff’s resurgence after being acquired in the Matthew Stafford trade. He shares that similarity with Van Pelt in that it’s certainly easier to trust and appreciate advice from someone who has actually played the position and can relate to what they’re going through, which likely helped in Van Pelt’s bond with Maye.
Meanwhile, if the Patriots do ultimately hire Vrabel, the belief is that Josh McDaniels could be the person who might come with him. While things didn’t pan out during his two head coaching stints, McDaniels’ resume here in New England as a coordinator speaks for itself. He helped get the most out of Cam Newton in his lone season as a starter, and coached Mac Jones up well enough that the former Alabama quarterback went out and won 10 games as a rookie.
McDaniels is a smart guy, and someone who Tom Brady always praised for his preparation and being able to anticipate things before they happened. But after seeing his development of young players, going back to players who have been successful like Matt Cassel, Jimmy Garoppolo, and then his influence on Jones, that’s something that will definitely be important if he’s brought back to Foxboro.
The Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard talked about that in his most recent podcast with Nick Cattles, with Bedard feeling that McDaniels would absolutely be a great pick.
“Because I think, and nobody’s really talked about this, it’s one thing to get an offensive coordinator, play-caller, offensive coordinator. That’s great,” said Bedard. “With a young quarterback like Drake Maye, who’s going to be the franchise for years to come, you need not just an offensive coordinator, play-caller. You need a master teacher of the quarterback position.”
“I think that Josh’s resume on that speaks itself. I think Josh is one of these rare people who is an expert at coaching the quarterback, but is also an expert at game planning and play calling.”
Bedard believes the fit is one that would be great for the team, and potentially for McDaniels, who still apparently lives locally. However, he hasn’t heard that McDaniels is a lock to join Vrabel should he come to New England. In fact, he believes it’s “far from a done deal.”
“To me, if that happens, and look, I don’t have any information on it. Last I heard, I think it’s not a done deal. It’s far from a done deal. I do think that Josh has other options, but he still lives locally. I think whatever he does next, it’s going to be in the best interest of his family. You would think that staying in his house and going back to work at Gillette would be that, but who knows? We’ll see what the McDaniels ends up doing at the end of the day.”
“But I just think Josh is terrific. I look at what he did with Mac Jones and a bunch of new people on offense that year. Remember, they brought in all new tight ends, new wide receivers, all that. They were like sixth in the league in points with Mac Jones, who look what he’s become. Can you imagine what he can do with Drake Maye and maybe some real talent? Bill never really gave him any true talent out there. I think he’s tremendous.”
“Look what he did bringing up, especially like Garoppolo and Matt Cassel and Mac Jones, and look what he got out of Cam Newton for a lot of that season. Jacoby Brissett beat an undefeated Texans team. I think he has a great resume. I think the offense is good. I think it can be used for anybody. Again, example, Mac Jones’ rookie year. Everybody says that that system is too complicated. That was really a Brady issue. Josh will make it as simple as it needs to be, and I think he’d be great for Drake Maye and for the Patriots in general.”
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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.
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