Pats Pulpit
Several members of the coaching staff will not be back with the team in 2025.
The New England Patriots’ coaching staff will look drastically different from the top down in 2025. While the extent of the changes has yet to be determined, we already know that several assistants of fired head coach Jerod Mayo will not be back next season.
Running backs coach Taylor Embree, tight ends coach Bob Bicknell, wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes and assistant wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood, and director of skill development Joe Kim have all recently moved on from the organization. The same is true for coaching assistant Keith Jones, who joined Appalachian State earlier this month.
What do the moves mean for the Patriots, though? Let’s take a look at them from a big-picture perspective.
The Patriots offense struggled in 2024, with almost every position group failing to live up to expectation. The lone exception might have been Bob Bicknell’s tight end room, which makes his departure a minor surprise — especially considering that he has as history with Mike Vrabel as well from their time with the Kansas City Chiefs.
In the grand scheme of things, however, all four of the departures on that side of the ball make sense. The running backs and wide receivers, for example, struggled throughout 2024. Between Rhamondre Stevenson’s fumble issues, disappointing rookie seasons for Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker, and an inability to generate consistent separation at the receiver spots, the two groups and their coaches had little to hang their hats on.
Some of the blame has to be placed at the feet of the players as well, of course. However, coaching seemingly failed to elevate them as well.
The aforementioned Ja’Lynn Polk and Javon Baker had quiet rookie seasons, and were unable to establish themselves as consistent pieces within the New England passing game. While not every first-year receiver will turn into a Ladd McConkey or Puka Nacua, the sparks shown by the pair were few and far in between — to a point where serious questions about their future started to emerge.
That future will look different now, at least as far as the support staff around them is concerned. Whether that will lead to better production in Year 2 remains to be seen, but something had to change for Polk and Baker.
The pair are not the only skill position players impacted by the coaching departures, however. On the other end of the spectrum were players such as tight end Hunter Henry and wide receiver Kayshon Boutte, who both played some of the best football of their careers while being coached by Bob Bicknell as well as Tyler Hughes and Tiquan Underwood, respectively.
The incoming coaches, whoever they may be, will need to find a way to build on the positives while also making sure young players such as Polk, Baker and tight end Jaheim Bell show marked signs of improvement. In new head...
