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The Patriots have brought back a familiar face to run the offense under Mike Vrabel. Josh McDaniels is back as the team’s offensive coordinator. 

is a great move for a myriad of reasons. His reputation as a developer of quarterbacks is well documented and he is a terrific play designer and play caller who will put players in position to succeed. 

Here are five reasons why this is a no brainer hire by the Patriots. 

1. Familiarity: McDaniels will be serving his third tour of duty as Patriots offensive coordinator. He coordinated the 07 offense, which is one of the greatest offenses of all-time and he called plays for all three Super Bowl teams in the second half of the dynasty. He is a familiar name and face to fans and his work with the organization speaks for itself. He understands the expectations here and what it takes to win. 

2. Develops quarterbacks: McDaniels deserves more credit than people are willing to give him for helping develop Tom Brady. Even if you take Brady out of the equation, McDaniels is the one who developed Matt Cassel and put him on the map in 2008. He also developed Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett and got both ready to play when Brady was suspended. Both eventually started and got paid elsewhere. Finally, his work with Mac Jones in 2021 is proof that he can develop rookie quarterbacks. Jones had the best season of his career, throwing 23 touchdown passes. You can clamor for something different, but you cannot deny McDaniels ability to develop young quarterbacks for the Patriots. 

3. Proven play caller: McDaniels has struggled as a head coach but he has had a lot of success as a play caller in New England. Collectively, his offenses averaged roughly 30 points per game in his two stints as offensive coordinator. In terms of points per game, here is where the Patriots ranked during McDaniels previous two stints.

2006: 7th

2007: 1st

2008: 8th

2012: 1st

2013: 3rd

2014: 4th

2015: 3rd

2016: 3rd

2017: 2nd

2018: 4th

2019: 7th

2020: 27th

2021: 6th 

Now sure, you can make the argument that he had Brady but he did not have him in 2008 and 2021 and the Patriots still finished top ten in points. The covid year obviously sticks out but Brady had just left and other than Jarrett Stidham, the team did not have a viable quarterback on the roster. The team had to settle on free agent Cam Newton and it was a struggle. Newton’s shoulder was toast. McDaniels tried to build the offense around him but there wasn’t enough of a supporting cast. Nonetheless, you cannot deny the overall production of his offenses. They score points! 

4. Multiple offense: The Patriots will return to running a multiple offense that will be game plan specific and play to the strengths of the players. The west coast offense the team ran last season was not a great fit for the personnel. You will see a return to multiple formations, personnel groupings, marrying the run to the pass in play-action and getting players into space. McDaniels will tweak the offense by adding even more motion and an RPO element. I think you will also see more pistol and designed quarterback runs but at its core, the Patriots offense will still be predicated on a timing passing game and attacking all three levels of the defense. The run game will blend man-gap and zone concepts. It will be a return to what we know but with updates. 

5. He will stick around: McDaniels could still get another shot to be a head coach but it probably won’t be for a while. He should stick around for three to five years. Just enough time to help take Maye to the next level and develop a future coordinator. If the Patriots had hired one of the young offensive position coaches who had been linked to the team, they probably would have only stuck around one to three years if they had any success. McDaniels hiring guarantees the Patriots some much needed continuity which is crucial for a defensive coach.