New England Patriots legendary tight end Rob Gronkowski made his thoughts known about what he thinks the next move for the team should be. Hours after the Patriots agreed to a contract extension with their former player, and former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, speculation has run rampant about who should be the team’s next hire. It’s uncertain who Vrabel will choose to retain, and who he will bring in. Possibly some former assistant coaches from Tennessee?
Vrabel’s former offensive coordinator Tim Kelly is sitting on his couch at home, and his former defensive coordinator Shane Bowen was the DC for the New York Giants last season. DeMarcus Covington led the league’s 10th-worst scoring defense for New England last year, and Alex Van Pelt helped the offense score the 30th most points in the NFL last year (out of 32 teams). NFL on Fox analyst Gronkowski said Vrabel should look at a former coach to be on his staff.
“If I’m Mike Vrabel, the first thing I would do is call up and dial the number of Josh McDaniels, familiar foe to Patriots fans, and hire him as the offensive coordinator as soon as possible.” -Rob Gronkowski
McDaniels was the Patriots offensive coordinator from 2006-2009 and then again from 2012-2020. Gronkowski benefitted from McDaniels’s play-calling for 8 of the 11 years he played in the NFL. When Gronk someday dons a yellow jacket in Canton someday, Josh should be the second guy he thanks (after Brady of course). When Josh was calling the plays for New England, they had a winning average of .740 (154-54), averaged 28.1 points per game, and went to five Super Bowls (winning three).
McDaniels went 11-5 in 2009 with Matt Cassel under center. The former USC quarterback had not started a game since high school. He was a 7th-round pick (240 overall) in the 2005 NFL Draft, and yet in his only season under McDaniels, he threw for 3,693 yards on 64.3% passing, with 21 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Cassel had a 14-year career in the NFL, amassing $91.2 million after he left New England, all thanks to that one season under McDaniels.
Patriots fans lament the time they had with Mac Jones as their starting quarterback. His downfall was predicted by at least one Patriots writer, and the excuses for his lack of success go on forever. It may seem like ancient history, but it was less than five years ago that Mac Jones, as a rookie, was selected to the Pro Bowl.
Selected with the 15th pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, Jones easily beat out Cam Newton in the preseason to become the Patriots starting quarterback. He completed 67.6% of his passes for 3,801 yards and 22 touchdowns. The team went 10-7 and lost in the first round of the playoffs. The following two seasons, without McDaniels calling plays for him, Jones went 8-17. He averaged 204.7 yards per game and threw 24 touchdowns to 23 interceptions. The team traded him for a seventh-round pick to stop the bleeding.
If Josh McDaniels can make an all-star out of Jones and go 11-5 with Cassel, it has to be asked, what can he do with a player as talented as Drake Maye? Perhaps the same sorts of things he did with Tom Brady (16-0 with the best offense in NFL history)? He hasn’t been a great head coach, but Josh McDaniels has been an absolute magician as a coordinator. It’s not hyperbole to call him a genius or say he is to offense what Bill Belichick was to defense.
Mike Vrabel has some choices to make about his staff for sure, but bringing in McDaniels would give the Patriots the best offensive play-caller in the league. If fans were happy with the promise showed by Maye last season, they’ll be ecstatic with the results next year. That is of course if Vrabel takes advice from Rob Gronkowski. In this case, he should, and maybe follow up with, “Who should I hire as defensive coordinator?”
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