Aug 4, 2024; Cleveland Browns advisor Mike Vrabel during practice at the Browns training facility in Berea, Ohio. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
The Patriots are seemingly honing in on hiring Mike Vrabel as head coach after firing Jarod Mayo to begin the offseason and while nothing is set in stone, new reports suggest Vrabel could reunite with a controversial staff member should he wind up in New England.
Josh McDaniels, who had two lengthy and successful stints with the franchise, was named by Jeremy Fowler of ESPN as a potential candidate to serve as Vrabel’s offensive coordinator.
While McDaniels has two poor stints as a head coach, he’s a proven winner as a play-caller and could be an ideal fit to complement Vrabel’s superior defensive chops provided the Patriots hire the latter.
Josh McDaniels Could Join a Potential Mike Vrabel Patriots Staff
Sources around league and with knowledge of New England’s search consider Mike Vrabel the favorite to land #Patriots job as of now
Another scenario floating: Could he bring Josh McDaniels with him?
From our coaching buzz file https://t.co/YIQSNvxRwA
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 9, 2025
McDaniels joined the Patriots as a personnel assistant in 2001 and served as a defensive assistant and quarterbacks coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2006.
He left in 2009 to join the Broncos but returned in 2012. McDaniels would remain with New England for a decade and is a six-time Super Bowl champion, having been the play-caller for most of Tom Brady’s time with the franchise.
“There is buzz in some coaching circles that Josh McDaniels could be a prime candidate to be Vrabel’s offensive coordinator,” Fowler writes. “That would be quite the nostalgia tandem, and though McDaniels is a two-time failed head coach, no one disputes his coordinator chops. It would be good for (Drake) Maye, but so would having (Ben) Johnson as the head coach.”
Johnson is the presumptive top candidate for any open job, perhaps save the Patriots’. It’s clear that New England values culture and “building a program” at whatever cost, which is why Mayo was fired despite just one year in the position. Vrabel is widely recognized as a culture-setter and McDaniels as a wise offensive mind, so the marriage makes sense from Robert Kraft’s perspective.
Whether or not it’d work remains to be seen. McDaniels’ ego and brash nature tanked his tenure with the Raiders. Perhaps he’s learned from his mistakes and Vrabel would keep him in check, or this could just be the latest example of a fruitless effort to turn back the clock when new ideas are required.
Whatever direction the Patriots choose to go, there is significant work to be done. Maye looks like a franchise QB, though the entire rest of the roster needs work. If New England is going to return to the postseason in 2025, the organization cannot afford to get this decision wrong.
