Pats Pulpit
Notes and thoughts on the Patriots’ wide receivers coach, Drake Maye’s Pro Bowl appearance, and more.
While the NFL’s 2024 season is in its home stretch, the New England Patriots remain in full offseason mode. Nonetheless, the NFL news cycle never sleeps; there is plenty to talk about even with the season — at least for 30 of 32 teams — already over.
As far as the Patriots are concerned, let’s therefore clean out the notebook from this week. Welcome to the latest edition of our Sunday Patriots Notes.
Even though the Patriots have only announced their head coach and coordinators so far, several coaches have reportedly joined Mike Vrabel in New England over the last few weeks. For all of those, there appears to be a clear plan in case — more on that in a second — but one prominent opening still remains.
As of Sunday morning, the team has not been linked to any wide receiver coaching candidates. Even if the Patriots are specifically targeting members of the Kansas City Chiefs’ or Philadelphia Eagles’ coaching staffs, that is likely to change within the next two weeks. In the meantime, let’s take a look at some candidates we believe could make sense due to their connections to Vrabel or Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
Chris Beatty: A veteran receivers coach at both the college and NFL levels, Beatty worked with new Patriots tight ends coach/pass game coordinator Thomas Brown in Chicago last year. Besides coaching wideouts, he also served as interim offensive coordinator.
Edgar Bennett: With the Raiders overhauling their coaching staff, his future in Las Vegas is in question. Bennett was been with the club since 2018, and coached wideouts before, after and during Josh McDaniels’ tenure as head coach in 2022 and 2023.
Kylan Butler: Butler spent three years as an offensive assistant under Mike Vrabel in Tennessee, and continued to work that same role for the Titans in 2024. Before jumping to the NFL, he coached wide receivers at the college level.
Rob Calabrese: Coaching wide receivers would be a first for Calabrese, but he did play the position part-time in college and despite being only 34 has an extensive résumé. If the Patriots want to McVay-ify their offense, adding the current Rams assistant might make sense.
Nick Charlton: A former wideouts coach, offensive coordinator and head coach at Maine, Charlton overlapped with Mike Vrabel in Cleveland last year. He served as an offensive assistant and run game specialist under Kevin Stefanski, but has the experience to change positions.
Erik Frazier: Before spending two seasons in Tennessee as an offensive assistant under Mike Vrabel, he coached receivers and served as passing game coordinator at Montana State. In 2024, he worked as wideouts coach at UCLA.
Ryan Griffin: A former backup quarterback in New Orleans and Tampa Bay, Griffin also spent 2024 with the Bears alongside Thomas Brown. He served as an offensive assistant whose focus...
