After one year season with Alex Van Pelt leading the offense, the New England Patriots have re-hired Josh McDaniels as their offensive coordinator under new head coach Mike Vrabel.
McDaniels left New England after the 2021 season to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, but he was fired midway through his second season. During his year off in 2024, McDaniels reportedly spent time with other teams and the things that he learned should help him and the Patriots’ offense in 2025.
What you’ll hear talking to people who know Josh who have been in contact with him through his sort of year off, 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. 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 and all the people he’s talked to,” CLNS’ Greg Bedard said on his podcast recently. “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.”
New England’s offense struggled mightily in 2024, and McDaniels will be tasked with transforming the unit into a competitive one. It’s unclear exactly what that will look like, whether it’s similar to his normal system or more of a West Coast style, but either way, big things are expected from McDaniels in his third time as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator.
