Pats Pulpit
New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels has had many battles with Pete Carroll over his coaching career.
None more bigger than Super Bowl XLIX, when Tom Brady threw four touchdowns and over 300 passing yards against the Legion of Boom secondary to deliver a come from behind championship. But even in a last-second defeat in 2020, McDaniels’ scheme helped Cam Newton pile up nearly 400 yards through the air and three total touchdowns.
Now, as McDaniels prepares to take on Carroll’s defense again in Week 1 of the 2025 regular season, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye is leaning on his coordinator’s experience.
“I think it’s great having Coach McDaniels, who’s played against this defense and knows some extra little tidbits for me to know, whether it’s in the huddle or before on this play,” Maye said Wednesday. “I think it’s great to have a play caller in my corner who’s played against this scheme in the Super Bowl. I studied a lot.
“I think that’s with a lot of coordinators in this league. He’s played against them and seen them, and I think it’s great to have that in the room, trying to get on the same page with him as what he’s seeing and try to catch up as much as I can to his level. I’m not going to get there, but try to. Just an understanding of, ‘Hey, I think they’re going to do this,’ or ‘Hey, this is what I think they’re going to be in.’ Then from there, yeah, watching old games, watching Cam Newton, watching Tom [Brady] in the Super Bowl was pretty cool.”
McDaniels’ wealth of experience and knowledge will continue to impact New England’s game plans over the weeks. But early in the season, the coordinator has also been willing to adjust the playbook around his quarterback’s comfort level.
“It’s something that I think he values my opinion, especially on the plays,” Maye explained. “I think he values my opinion on, ‘Hey, out of this formation or out of this look, I like this stuff.’ It’s something that kind of throughout the season, I think you can kind of say, ‘Hey, what about this play? I remember we ran it back in this week.’ It’s something that you can kind of build and build trust.”
That trust will be key as Maye looks to take the all important year-two jump under McDaniels’ watch.
“I think the trust is there; it’s just, for me, just continue growing and seeing, ‘Hey, let’s do this against this defense’ and continue to find out what things I like,” Maye said. “For right now, just trusting whatever he’s got in, letting him know what I like and give an input here and there. ‘Hey, I like this, I like that.’”
