McDaniels agreed Tuesday night to become the Patriots' offensive coordinator again, a source confirmed to the Globe. It's the same role McDaniels had from 2006-08 and 2012-21, when he was essentially the "head coach" of the offense for Bill Belichick and was a crucial piece of the dynasty.
It's the most important hire for Mike Vrabel as he begins anew in Foxborough, as McDaniels will be the primary tutor for promising young quarterback Drake Maye. McDaniels takes over for Alex Van Pelt, who spent one year in New England and guided the Patriots to No. 30 in points scored (17.0) with Maye and Jacoby Brissett at quarterback.
McDaniels, 48, has never coached with Vrabel, though they overlapped from 2001-08 when McDaniels was a young coach and Vrabel a cornerstone of three Super Bowl teams.
McDaniels is the safe, sensible choice. McDaniels went 20-33 in his two stints as a head coach, but he's proven to be a skilled coordinator in 19 years as a play caller, and should be a terrific mentor for Maye and fellow young quarterback Joe Milton.
McDaniels also is intimately familiar with the working environment in Foxborough and has a great relationship with the Krafts, leaving Vrabel with one less thing he has to worry about as he begins the Patriots' rebuild.
This marks the third time the Patriots have called on McDaniels to stabilize the offense. The first came in 2012 when Bill O'Brien left for Penn State. The second came in 2018, when Robert Kraft persuaded McDaniels at the last minute to stay in New England and renege on his commitment to become the Colts' head coach.
This time, McDaniels faces the toughest test of his career, with the Patriots' offense in shambles. The offense has been marked by upheaval since McDaniels left, going through Matt Patricia, O'Brien, and Van Pelt at coordinator the last three years. They also have cycled through four offensive line coaches in four years, from Carmen Bricillo to Patricia to Adrian Klemm to Scott Peters.
The Patriots finished 31st and 30th in points scored the last two years, and went through the 2024 season with the worst offensive skill players and worst offensive line in the NFL. Armed with the No. 4 draft pick and the most cap space in the NFL, the Patriots likely will be aggressive in upgrading the offense.
In a vacuum, two aspects of McDaniels's hiring are concerning. One is that Maye will be on his second offensive coordinator and system in two years. Continuity is one of the biggest keys to success in the NFL, yet Maye will have to spend all offseason unlearning the West Coast system and language taught by Van Pelt, and learning the Tom Brady language and system from McDaniels.
The other is that the Patriots didn't seem to do much of a search. They interviewed four candidates, two of whom satisfied the Rooney Rule, plus a 28-year-old coach from Minnesota who is promising but inexperienced. McDaniels has been the rumored guy for weeks, and it seems the Patriots had him in mind, then worked backward to make it happen, much like they did with Vrabel. Vrabel has other contacts around the league that did not get an interview, so McDaniels's hiring has the Krafts' fingerprints all over it.
But as with Vrabel, though the process wasn't rigorous, the Patriots still landed on the right guy.
McDaniels is the obvious hire, most notably for the stability he can bring to the offense. Not only is he brimming with experience, McDaniels isn't going anywhere.
He's almost certainly not getting another head coaching job after struggling twice, in Denver and Las Vegas. And he doesn't seem to want to leave New England, with his family entrenched in the area. McDaniels spent the 2024 season breaking down film from home in the Boston suburbs.
Maye will have to learn a lot of new language this offseason, but this should be it for him for several years. Had the Patriots hired more of a "hot shot" coordinator, they would risk losing him to a head coaching job if he performs well.
Of course, McDaniels brings more to the job than the fact that he doesn't want to leave. He returns to New England with a wide array of experience. While he helped Brady reach six Super Bowls (winning three), set records in 2007, and operate one of the most prolific offenses of the 2010s, McDaniels also had success in New England with other quarterbacks.
McDaniels helped an inexperienced Matt Cassel go 11-5 in 2008. He coached Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett to a 3-1 record in 2016 while Brady was suspended. McDaniels coached a running quarterback in Cam Newton, and guided Mac Jones in his rookie year to a 10-7 record and a spot in the Pro Bowl. Jones's career went downhill when McDaniels left.
The Patriots are right to entrust McDaniels with developing Maye. It might be a bit rocky at first, but McDaniels knows what he's doing, and Maye is smart enough to handle the change, and dynamic enough to make it work.