The Kraft’s wanted Vrabel and McDaniels all Along

By Steve Atkinson 

It’s interesting how Mike Vrabel has the freedom to choose most of his assistants, while Jerod Mayo was assigned a group of inexperienced coaches and coordinators. On the defensive side, Vrabel was able to select his entire staff, from the defensive coordinator down to the position coaches.

However, on the offensive side, the Krafts hired Josh McDaniels, and while Vrabel could choose the offensive assistants under McDaniels, Mayo was given Alex Van Pelt, who had never called plays before. If they wanted to bring in McDaniels, why not just do it last year? It seems the Krafts wanted Vrabel all along but had promised Mayo the job, so they had to proceed with him.

Josh McDaniels Runs An  Different offense from the modern game

Josh McDaniels is known for running a pocket-passing offense, not a West Coast-style offense, while the staff under him operates a West Coast scheme. Did Josh update his approach for Drake Maye? It would be confusing to hire McDaniels and then have a staff that employs a completely different offensive philosophy. The Krafts allowed Vrabel and McDaniels to take a year off, seemingly to fulfill their promise to Mayo while wasting a season for Drake Maye. At least Maye will be working with offensive coaches rather than a defensive coordinator who transitions to calling offense.

Drake Maye is excited to work with Josh McDaniels

Drake Maye is eager to work with Josh McDaniels and dive into all the film of Tom Brady from McDaniels’ time as offensive coordinator. Maye expressed his thoughts:

“Coach McDaniels has had success at a high level, and I’m fortunate to learn from him while coaching one of the best ever—Tom Brady, in my opinion. I have a great opportunity to study all those years of film in the database, covering their play calls and what Coach McDaniels did with Tom. It’s a privilege for me to review all that material and get ready for this next season.”

Maye will likely thrive under Josh McDaniels, provided McDaniels adapts to Maye’s style rather than the other way around. His the most athletic quarterback McDaniels has ever worked with, and the coaching staff has a completely different offensive philosophy. We’ll see if this partnership works out or if they end up looking for a new quarterback in a few years.

Greg Bedard shoots down any rumors on the McDaniel’s hire

Greg Bedard of the Boston Sports Journal reported that Vrabel wanted to work with McDaniels and that they were in talks last year. Honestly, the new hire of Mayo seemed questionable, and it’s likely they just held off until Mayo was eventually let go. This situation illustrates why Vrabel hasn’t landed a head coaching job and why Josh hasn’t been given an offensive coordinator position.

What you’ll hear talking to people who know Josh… they basically say, ‘I don’t think you can comprehend the amount of work that Josh has put in this past year.’ I mean, he’s been a bunch of places — including the Chiefs,” Bedard said on CLNS’ “Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast.” “He spent time with the Chiefs, he spent a lot of time in college football, I think he spent time with the Rams, the Browns I would imagine. I’m sure it’s gonna come out at some point all the places he’s been…

“Everybody’s like, ‘Wait until you see it.’ There’s gonna be a lot of the bare bones of it. Normally the way Josh operates is they start very basic and then they start moving, but one person was basically like over the moon… Here’s a quote from one person, “People don’t understand how much work Josh did last season. All the places he went, how much he studied. He’s added — tinkered with mobile quarterbacks, space, movement plays, motions, and all kinds of (expletive). Add in the new viewpoints from the staff… This has the potential to be really cool.’ People are — they said basically be prepared to be a little bit shocked.”