New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel is clearly a fan of the way Josh McDaniels sees the game. It’s for that reason that he hired him to return for a third stint as offensive coordinator for the Patriots.
The hope is that McDaniels’ offensive coaching can help rejuvenate the Patriots’ struggling offense as a whole. He told as much to CBS Boston’s Steve Burton in a recent interview, as transcribed by NESN.com’s Sean T. McGuire.
“When you talk about Josh, I just think schematically the way he teaches the quarterback, the versatility in the offense, and the base foundation of the offense,” Vrabel told Burton. “His growth, I think, in that offense, trying to put conflict on the defense in the way he structures a gameplan, in the way that he calls the gameplan.
“Having gone against him and having seen the system here as a player, and that’s evolved. There is a lot more to it than that. I know that he’s — in our conversations, worked hard and studied, visited, and met with people. We’re going to continue to add things that we feel helps our players and give us an advantage to score touchdowns and take care of the football.”
Vrabel played for the Patriots while McDaniels worked his way through Bill Belichick’s coaching ranks from 2001-2008. During that time, he got to see McDaniels contribute to winning offenses, as the trio of McDaniels, Belichick and Tom Brady helped form an unprecedented dynasty.
Now, Vrabel wants McDaniels to help start a new era. The offensive coordinator won’t have Brady anymore, but he will have a promising young quarterback in Drake Maye.
The second-year signal-caller and his exceptionally high ceiling give McDaniels a chance to open up the playbook right out of the gates in 2025.