Patriots News 2-9, Super Bowl Week, Free Agency Looming
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Good morning. Here are your Patriots News and NFL Notes on 2-9. The Patriots have continued to build the coaching staff, adding wide receivers coach Todd Downing. Downing was the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Jets in 2024. He took over the offensive play calling duties after the team fired Nathaniel Hackett.
Downing is an intriguing hire. While he has never been a wide receivers coach per se, he’s been an offensive coordinator, and he brings yet another coach with a wealth of experience on the offensive side of the ball. It has been reported that Mike Vrabel wasn’t involved in the hire, letting Josh McDaniels have the authority entirely on this.
If that is indeed the case, the situation becomes more intriguing. Reportedly, McDaniels was more interested in hiring an outstanding coach than a wide receivers coach, and he really wanted Downing.
Downing was a tight end coach and offensive coordinator under Vrabel in Tennessee. This could explain why Vrabel was happy to let McDaniels handle the position when he found out who he wanted to fill it. Tight-end coaches make great offensive coordinators because they are involved in all facets of offensive game planning. Thomas Brown is the new tight ends coach and passing game coordinator for precisely that reason.
The Super Bowl kicks off tonight, and we’ll hopefully have a game that goes down to the wire. Those are the best Super Bowls to watch. While I’m not a Chiefs fan, what happened to Travis Kelce was totally bush league during Media Night.
Someone asked Kelce what he loves more, Taylor Swift or seeing his quarterback get phantom 15-yard roughing the passer calls. While the Chiefs getting some (all) of the calls is a legitimate question since the NFL deemed it worthy enough to address it …twice during the week. This was far from legit. Kelce was ambushed by it, and it was uncalled for.
If someone took a shot like that against a Patriot player, we’d all be up in arms. It works the same way. ‘Nuff said.
Now, regarding Kansas City getting all the calls, the commissioner, Roger Goodell, and the referees’ union both made statements pooh-poohing the allegations that officials favor the Chiefs. Goodell called it “ridiculous,” and the union called it “insulting.”
But this isn’t just from this year’s playoffs; it has gone on for years in the playoffs and regular season. Every pivotal call in a game seems to go Kansas City’s way. We all hear the statements by Goodell and the league, but those don’t pass the eye test. File it under “Not Buying It.”
Drake Maye: Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston interviewed the Patriots’ quarterback. “The Senator asked Maye about playing for Vrabel and his penchant for hard coaching. Maye welcomed the question.
“Yeah, I think for me as a player, especially in football, you want that. You like that. You want to be coached hard. We’re playing at the highest level, but we still need to be coached hard.
“I think that’s the biggest thing people get away from. We don’t know everything, especially me coming in, the second year, just finished my rookie season. I don’t know everything and want to be coached hard. I know Coach McDaniels will get that done, but Coach Vrabel, yeah, I think some of our guys, including me, probably need that – a little hard coaching.”
Coach Scarnecchia, USA Today photo
Dante Scarnecchia: The Patriots’ great OL coach, was a guest on the Greg Hill show this week. He was asked about the hiring of Mike Vrabel. His answer was classic Dante… straight to the point.
“I love it. I think it’s spectacular. I think he’s really a great coach, and I’m not making comparisons to anybody. I think Mike did a really good job at Tennessee. I’ve been on the field and watched him as both an assistant coach, a coordinator, and as a head coach. He commands the room as a head coach, commands the field as a head coach. He’s involved in everything. He knows what everybody’s doing and how they’re doing it. He’s the boss, and I just respect that about him and love him as a player. He’s a great person, and I’m just really happy for him. And I think it’s a great fit here in New England.”
When Wiggy (Jermaine Wiggins) asked Scarnecchia about Vrabel and how to get players to buy in from the coaches, Coach Scar had the only answer.
“It’s very simple, Jermaine. You have to convince them that you can help them be the best player that they can be. Stand up in front of them and tell them how to do their job and how to make them better players.
“Because look at, you know the deal. If you play good, you get to stay. If you don’t play very good, you’re out. And so they’ll do anything they can if what they’re hearing is convincing to them that, ‘hey, this guy can help me become a better player and do my job as good as I can do it,’ then they get to stay around for a while. And I think that’s it. And how can this guy, in this case, Mike, how can he make our team better? And when he gets up in front of him, it’s going to be very apparent to all of them how he’s going to make it better. And I think that will be the key to his success.”
Sterling Sharpe HOF: Sharpe was elected to the Hall of Fame, and his career was cut short, unfortunately, due to injury. He was deserving. But I have to wonder why the Hall of Fame keeps adding wide receivers from earlier eras but ignores Stanley Morgan. Morgan played in a different era where the league and the Patriots were a four-yards and a cloud of dust team.
Take a look at his career stats compared to some recent elections, Cliff Branch and Sterling Sharpe, and it is worth a discussion.
Branch: receptions: 501, yards: 8685, avg per rec: 17.3, TDs: 67
Sharpe: receptions: 595, yards: 8134, avg per rec: 13.7, TDs: 65
Morgan: receptions: 557, yards: 10,716, avg per rec: 19.2, TDs: 72
Morgan had five seasons in a row where he averaged 20+ yards per reception, including three in a row where he led the league in that category. While I am NOT saying Branch and Sharpe are not deserving, they certainly are, but where is the love for the “Stanley Steamer?”
Adam Vinatieri: How is one of the most clutch kickers in NFL history not a first-ballot Hall of Famer? Ugh, that’s awful. He played the first ten years of his career playing outside on the crappiest grass fields in the league. Special Teams players are very under-represented in the HOF, and that must change.
East-West Shrine/Senior Bowls: Some people misunderstand when they hear, “The Patriots are interested in Player X,” or “The Patriots met with Player Y.” You have to remember that the draft is seven rounds long, and UDFA signings follow right behind that. Not everyone is being considered for a first-round selection.
Most of the guys who go in Round 1 weren’t at either one. But they’re meeting with guys who could be essential and valuable role players. Many were questioning why they met with edge rushers and not Abdul Carter because he wasn’t there.
Bill Belichick/Jordon Hudson: Belichick and his girlfriend Hudson appeared together on the red carpet at the NFL Honors Awards ceremony. And Hudson’s silver sequinned dress certainly drew quite a bit of attention. As did the couple’s 49-year age gap.
Snoop Dog surprised them with his joke at their expense during the show. Snoop joked about the good old days of the NFL when the Cowboys were good the Chiefs were bad, “and I remember, what was it, Bill Belichick’s girlfriend wasn’t even born yet.”
Belichick obviously loved it, but Hudson was surprised but laughed along with the audience. Bill also sported six of his seven Super Bowl rings, the other was on Hudson’s middle finger. Things that make go hmm.
Patriots 4th & 2 Podcast: Derek and I discussed the new Patriots coaches who had been hired. And the Super Bowl. Please check us out and give us a listen on YouTube, Apple, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
Russ Francis/Chuck Fairbanks: The former Patriot tight end and head coach should be in the Patriots team Hall of Fame, and the fact that Francis isn’t is an absolute travesty. Francis and the Raiders’ Dave Casper changed how teams used the tight end position. This will be discussed in our Sunday posts until it happens. Casper is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Francis’ numbers stand up well against Casper’s, yet he isn’t even in the team’s HOF.
The Patriots and head coach Mike Vrabel have finalized their staff to begin the offseason and the 2025 regular season. Vrabel has been adding pieces since his hire, beginning with his coordinators: Offense – Josh McDaniels, Defense – Tyrell Williams, Special Teams – Jeremy Springer, and have been steadily adding to it, but it is now complete.
Josh McDaniels: Offensive Coordinator
Thomas Brown: Tight Ends/Passing Game Coordinator
Doug Marrone: Offensive Line
Jason Houghtaling: Assistant Offensive Line
Robert Kugler: Assistant Offensive Line
Todd Downing: Wide Receivers
Tony Dews: Running Backs
Ashton Grant: Quarterbacks
Riley Larkin: Offensive Assistant
Chuckie Keeton: Offensive Assistant
Jeremy Springer: Special Teams Coordinator
Tom Quinn: Assistant Special Teams
Terrell Williams: Defensive Coordinator
Zak Kuhr: Inside Linebackers
Scott Booker: Safeties
Justin Hamilton: Cornerbacks
Clint McMillan: Defensive Line
Mike Smith: Outside Linebackers
Vinny DePalma: Defensive Assistant
Kevin Richardson: Defensive Assistant
Milton Patterson: Defensive Assistant
Ben McAdoo: Senior Defensive Assistant
Mike Vrabel: Head Coach
John Streicher: Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy
Frank Piraino: Director of Sports Performance
Deron Mayo: Strength and Conditioning
Brian McDonough: Assistant Strength and Conditioning
One intriguing staff member kept from Jerod Mayo’s staff was Deron Mayo, his brother. Not because he’s Mayo’s brother, but because of the number of injuries suffered by the Patriots this season, especially by the offensive line.
One would think that strength and conditioning have something to do with that. But obviously, Vrabel is confident that it wasn’t the case. This looks like a helluva staff, but we can’t say anything definitive…yet. We won’t know that until the season starts.
The next things up are the NFL Scouting Combine, Free Agency, and the 2025 NFL Draft. The next couple of months promise to be very interesting. Free agency is going to be very important this season. Successful teams are built through the draft. This is a true statement and a look at the key players on each team in the Super Bowl will bear that out.
However, with so many holes on the Patriots roster, you can’t fill them all with just the draft. Will they find everything through free agency? Doubtful. I think that they may find one or two potential stars by overpaying some veteran free agents, but this should be an area where they fill up a lot of depth needs by finding the role players and what we called the “middle class” of players that every team needs, as Bill Belichick was so good at loading up.
Then the draft will hopefully turn out to go “best player” available, instead of drafting for need.
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Both teams have excellent defenses, which may help hold the score down a bit. The Chiefs have proven that they can win close games all season. If they get the ball late in the game and with the score close, Patrick Mahomes will deliver.
The Eagles have an outstanding running game with Saquon Barkley and Jalen Hurts. If they are to win the game, they’ll have to get up and just keep pounding Barkley against the Chiefs’ defense and wear them down.
But it is going to be tough to do. I expect we’ll hear this in a pivotal part of the game. “Barkley breaks a tackle and gets the first down and a whole lot more…wait, there is a penalty flag on the play.” Didn’t we just hear something similar?
Chiefs 27-23
Conf. week: 1—1
2024 Season 204—68
2023 Season 178—94
2022 Season: 178—92—2
2021 Season: 183—88—1
2020 Season: 169—86—1
2019 Season: 162—93—1
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““No doubt. Yeah, you learn a new offense. Obviously, I think I’m a bright kid, and I don’t think it’ll be too challenging, but obviously, I think it’s a new offense. You got to do it, and they don’t give you much time to work with coaches during this time period, you got to have time off. It’s fortunate, like I said, you got the whole library from years ago, back when the greatest ever do it, did it in the same offense. What a guy to watch film on. Coach McDaniels has been one of the best in the business as a coordinator, and looking forward to running the offense that Tom Brady did.”
Patriots starting quarterback Drake Maye, in an interview by Phil Perry of NBC Sports Boston, on if Maye has spoken to offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and will the new offense be a challenge.
“I learned it the hard way when Mike was no more than a substitute defensive end at Pittsburgh, which he did for four years. I mean, he never started, but he was one of those guys that got out there in certain pass-rush situations, and we were playing him late in the game. I had heard about Mike because he was such a great player at Ohio State.
“Here we are in the fourth quarter, and this was pre-Belichick, and we had a chance to beat him over there. Here, he’s on the field. He runs by our left tackle, who was a good player, and slapped his hands down and strip-sacked Drew [Bledsoe], and it was over. And I said, ‘Damn.’
“And then the next time, the very next year, he’s on our team. And it just hit me right away. For what I saw him do on one play, I’m glad he’s on our team, and I don’t have to coach against this guy. And then he became, really, for me, my arch nemesis on the field, because he would do everything possible to mess with us, especially in OTAs and mini-camps, where no one had any pads on.”
“He’d hold guys on stunts, and then he’d look over me and smile as I was cussing his face off. And it’s just that’s how it was with him. He just would try to get under your skin and mess with you because, to him, it was a lot of fun. And now when the games were on, he was serious as a heart attack. But I love the guy, man, for what he did for us for so many years. He’s special.”
Dante Scarnecchia, the Patriots’ legendary OL coach, was asked about a story about Mile Vrabel. Incidentally, the play he referenced was a playoff game against Pittsburgh, and Vrabel sealed it against New England.
(Special thanks to Ian Logue for transcribing all of these interviews.)
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“Talent sets the floor; Character sets the ceiling.” Bill Belichick
Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]
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