The Patriots haven’t finished building their coaching staff, but early moves suggest they’ve focused on adding two things in particular: familiarity and experience.
New England had neither of those elements on their team last season, which posed a major obstacle as they looked to build a collective vision for young player development.
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 he took on a playing role for the first time and saw his early fights dominate the public perception of him. DeMarcus Covington went from beloved young coach to much-maligned defensive coordinator. Jeremy Springer was the only one to pass and was rewarded with an active key card for One Patriot Place.
The Patriots couldn’t afford to roll the dice this time around and restarted the rebuild by bringing in a man who embodied the organization’s familiarity and experience: Mike Vrabel.
Vrabel wasn’t the only one who needed both attributes, and he has since spent time building out his team (Josh McDaniels, Terrell Williams, Tony Dews, John Streicher and Frank Piraino) with both of them in mind.
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It is another new era in New England, but this time they’re not running from what’s been proven.
McDaniels is not only returning for his third stint in New England, but he would return after gaining experience through other programs. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that the 48-year-old has spent time with college and professional teams to evolve his offense – looking to build on his 23 years of experience filled with successful stints as a coordinator offensive (New England) and disastrous races. as head coach (Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders).
Williams, Dews, Streicher and Piraino all worked with Vrabel, while also gaining experience outside of his system last 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 members of the support staff who took a year-long job elsewhere before ending up with their man.
The Patriots’ process has faced criticism, and most of it was deserved. It’s hard to give them shit for prioritizing these two things, though, because it’s something they clearly didn’t have in 2024.
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