The New England Patriots already secured their Jerod Mayo replacement at head coach by hiring Mike Vrabel, though their coaching staff is hardly complete.
Most importantly, the team needs to bring in an offensive coordinator who is capable of developing quarterback Drake Maye into the one of the league’s best field generals.
Patriots Legend Offers Up Interesting Name for OC Opening
Franchise legend Rob Gronkowski appeared on the Up and Adams show hosted by Kay Adams to talk about the Patriots’ upcoming offseason, and he made a questionable, if not entirely predictable, suggestion when the topic of the team’s offensive coordinator opening came up:
.@RobGronkowski saw first hand what Josh McDaniels did with Tom Brady… could he do the same with Drake Maye if hired as the Pats OC??? 📈🔊
Gronk: "I believe he would take Drake Maye to a whole OTHER LEVEL." @heykayadams @patriots pic.twitter.com/Bq7fbO3pvC
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) January 15, 2025
Josh McDaniels has had a long and tenuous coaching career in the NFL, which began in 2001 with the Patriots. He had two tenures with the team as an offensive coach from 2001-08 and 2012-22, the former which covered the majority of Gronkowski’s luminous career in New England.
During his time under McDaniels with the Patriots (2012-18), Gronkowski earned four Pro Bowl and three First-Team All-Pro nods, tallying 389 catches for 5,988 yards and 52 touchdowns. The team’s quarterback, Tom Brady, had an ever better stretch in that window than the tight end did, winning an MVP and earning a Pro Bowl spot in all seven seasons.
Gronkowski witnessed first-hand how good of an offensive coach McDaniels is, and his recommendation must mean something to Vrabel and owner Robert Kraft. However, McDaniels’ reputation outside of New England isn’t exactly stellar.
Josh McDaniels Might Not Be Right OC for Vrabel
The Patriots’ top priority next season will be to continue the development of Drake Maye, who had an excellent rookie season.
According to PFN’s QB+ metric, Maye finished the season ranked 19th among all quarterbacks with a 74.3 grade (C).
“Maye’s offensive line ranks as the worst in the league this year by OL+, and it’s hard to make a case he had anything better than a bottom-three skill-position group. In that context, Maye’s numbers are impressive. He finished 22nd in EPA/DB (0.01), ranking 21st from a clean pocket (0.2 EPA/DB) and 18th when pressured (-0.30 EPA/DB),” PFN’s Ben Rolfe explained. “The Patriots have much to figure out this offseason, but thankfully, the quarterback position doesn’t appear to be one of them.”
During Vrabel’s tenure with the Tennessee Titans, them team was a mixed bag on offense. In PFN’s Offense+ metric, the Titans were the No. 6 offense in 2019, then improved to No. 2 in 2020. Ryan Tannehill graded out as one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the league, finishing fifth in PFN’s QB+ metric in both seasons.
However, in all other seasons, Vrabel’s Titans never finished higher than 15th in points per game and ranked 27th or lower in three of those campaigns.
Beyond his time with the Patriots, McDaniels had held head coaching or offensive coordinator roles with the Denver Broncos, the then St. Louis Rams, and Las Vegas Raiders.
He didn’t last more than two years at any of those stops, and the Raiders were relatively ordinary in his one full season there, finishing 12th in both total offense (352.5 yards per game) and scoring offense (23.2 points per game).
His quarterbacks (Kyle Orton and Tim Tebow in Denver; Sam Bradford in St. Louis; Derek Carr in Las Vegas) never developed into anything special under him, either.
All of that also fails to mention when he disgraced himself and the Indianapolis Colts franchise by backing out of a head coaching agreement in 2018.
McDaniels has had plenty of success in New England before, though that may have been more due to the greatness of his tight end and quarterback than anything he brought to the table as a coach. Gronkowski is a respected figure around Foxborough, but perhaps his (surely biased) take isn’t the best path forward for the franchise.