New England Patriots - NESN.com
The Patriots aren’t done building their coaching staff, but early moves suggest they’ve focused on adding two things in particular: familiarity and experience.
New England didn’t have either of those things on the staff last season, which was a major hinderance as they looked to build a collective vision for the development of younger players.
Jerod Mayo clearly wasn’t ready, and failed because of it. Alex Van Pelt is respected by many for his ability to develop talent, but stepped into a play-calling role for the first time and saw his early struggles dominate public perception of him. DeMarcus Covington went from being a beloved young position coach, to a much-maligned defensive coordinator. Jeremy Springer was the only one who succeeded, and has been rewarded with an active key card to One Patriot Place.
The Patriots couldn’t afford to roll the dice this time around, and restarted the rebuild by bringing in one man who epitomized familiarity and experience with the organization — Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel wasn’t the only guy who needed to have those two attributes, and he’s since spent time making additions to his staff (Josh McDaniels, Terrell Williams, Tony Dews, John Streicher and Frank Piraino) with both of them in mind.
It’s another new era in New England, but this time they aren’t running away from what is proven.
McDaniels isn’t just coming back around for his third stint in New England, but he’s reportedly coming back having gained experience from other programs. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported that the 48-year-old spent time with college and professional teams to evolve his offense — looking to build off his 23 years of experience that are filled with successful stints as an offensive coordinator (New England) and disastrous runs as a head coach (Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders).
Williams, Dews, Streicher and Piraino have all worked with Vrabel, while also gaining experience outside his system this past season. Williams worked for the best regular-season team in the NFL. Dews coached running backs for the New York Jets, his first season working in the league for someone other than Vrabel. Streicher and Piraino were sought-after member of the support staff who took one-year jobs elsewhere before they ultimately ended up back with their guy.
The Patriots’ process has been subject to criticism, and much of it was deserved. It’s hard to give them crap for prioritizing those two things, though, because it’s something the clearly didn’t have in 2024.
