UPDATE: Future Head Coaching Options Discussion

[Mikefive]

I too would love Harbaugh. With Fangio? OMG, yes.

However, I'm just not sure he's the personality fit for the McCaskeys. In the NFL, he has shown to stay there for a while, then relationships sour and he looks to leave. He's not the Dave Wannstedt-Marc Trestman-Matt Nagy-esque super nice guy that the family loves.

[Grizzled]

He's not the Dave Wannstedt-Marc Trestman-Matt Nagy-esque super nice guy that the family loves.

Not saying the Bears need Attila the Hun as coach but a coach not settling for sloppy penalties and playing might be a welcome choice.

[UOK]

I don't know if Harbaugh is who you want. This team needs a Mike Tomlin. I don't know if they're capable of finding one.

[RichH55]

I think the magician thing is a trick of the mind too.

You know what doesn't look like magic? Reading the Defense properly and getting the ball out on time. It looks ho-hum but it's incredibly difficult to do - and its how you win games and score points

Watson last year with Texans - they were NOT top Half in Points Scored - And that was with 2 games against a tanking Jags team, Another against Lions, and 2 against the Titans who were a bottom 10 team last year in terms of Points Allowed

For baseball fans - it's very Devon White v. Jim Edmonds - Devon was vastly, vastly superior as a Defensive CF - He read the ball off the bat better, ran faster, and took better routes. But Jim Edmonds looked like he TRIED! (The magician!). Here's the thing: When you read the ball better, run faster, and take the better route - The ball that Jim Edmonds is Diving for - You are making look routine. And you are getting to alot more balls than Edmonds

But the casual fan? They like the showmanship.



There was an Athletic article on Rodgers v. the Rams that I was I could post - It shows just how absolutely crucial the QB is to Pass Protection - There were MULTIPLE plays were Aaron Donald beat his guy clean and INSTANTLY and didn't lay a hand on Rodgers - Read the D, get the ball out!

Well, that’s great for Rodgers but with Watson he was frequently able to escape arm tackles and make something out of nothing on scramble drills, so I’m not sure what you’re saying here is applicable.

You don't have to escape arm tackles when you get the ball out quicker is what I'm saying

So you see the escapes (And ignore the MONSTER amount of sacks he takes) - is your mind playing tricks on you

Does that make sense?

No NFL QB is faster than even a Chad Pennington throw

[G08]

I like him a lot, ditto on his first go round, but who is his offensive coordinator?

And do we risk continuing to shuttle OCs in and out on almost a yearly basis?

I'd love to get Rick Smith as the GM
Todd Bowles as the HC
Bill O'Brien as the OC (linked to Smith)

AZ on the other forum mentioned BOB and I love the idea. He's not going to be a HC anytime soon no matter how good the offense becomes because of the HOU disaster, but he has a lot of work done with Watson and the offense was pretty damn explosive with Watson. Get a guy who has experience as a HC, has ran a great offense, and headed the development of Watson from the get go - who is very similar to Fields. Plus no one will poach him as a HC? Sweet.

I love it. He can be the OC for me regardless of who the HC is.

I wouldn't hate this but I'm still firmly on the Josh McDaniels train. Make him head coach and give him some more power, Pace can be a de-facto GM and work on scouting etc.

[wab]

I'd love to get Rick Smith as the GM
Todd Bowles as the HC
Bill O'Brien as the OC (linked to Smith)

AZ on the other forum mentioned BOB and I love the idea. He's not going to be a HC anytime soon no matter how good the offense becomes because of the HOU disaster, but he has a lot of work done with Watson and the offense was pretty damn explosive with Watson. Get a guy who has experience as a HC, has ran a great offense, and headed the development of Watson from the get go - who is very similar to Fields. Plus no one will poach him as a HC? Sweet.

I love it. He can be the OC for me regardless of who the HC is.

I wouldn't hate this but I'm still firmly on the Josh McDaniels train. Make him head coach and give him some more power, Pace can be a de-facto GM and work on scouting etc.

This is a genuine question: Why would you give McDaniels power? What has he done to justify it?

[southdakbearfan]

There is no doubt McD can run an offense and his QBs perform. He has done absolutely nothing to deserve personnel power. He stunk it up in Denver when he had a big say and his committal/decommital with Indy would give me a heck of a lot of pause at him even being a head coach. Maybe you could argue that he continues to follow the Bellicheck path who also walked out on a team, even after signing a contract. But the history of Bill’s underlings is littered with a ton of failure.

I could be talked into Bowles (depending on who he would bring with him for offensive coaches) or Daboll (the opposite side of the coin).

Harbaugh is a long shot for sure, but would be my first call.

Dave Taub is another interesting name as I like special teams coaches. They don’t seem to fixate on only one side of the ball and seem to know how to mesh groups better. Toub is probably the best special teams coach in my lifetime and continues to perform.

[G08]

I wouldn't hate this but I'm still firmly on the Josh McDaniels train. Make him head coach and give him some more power, Pace can be a de-facto GM and work on scouting etc.

This is a genuine question: Why would you give McDaniels power? What has he done to justify it?

I think it's what he's looking for and I'm starting to realize our ownership has no idea what they are doing. Pace values collaboration so, in a sense, he's just doing the bidding of the head coach.

I can't say McDaniels has done anything to justify getting the power, per se, but I would say the same thing about any person stepping into a position of power for the first time.


To me, and it's the same as the last-go-round, he has demonstrated he can develop QBs or, at minimum, get them to produce. He made Kyle freaking Orton a 3,800+ yard passer, I'm drooling at the thought of him developing an offense around Justin Fields' strengths.

If Pace wants to find his Sean Payton, this is the dude.

[G08]

Awesome writeup on McDaniels... not my work!

Josh McDaniels – NE Patriots Offensive Coordinator

2021 Pats Offence Rankings (to date)

17th Overall in Total YPG - 351.8 YPG

6th Overall in PPG - 27.3 YPG

5th in 3rd Down Conversion - 45.77%

16th Overall in Passing YPG - 235.5 YPG

17th Overall in Passing Attempts - 359 attempts

8th Overall in YPPA – 7.7 YPP

2nd Overall in Passing Completion Percentage – 70.75%

14th Overall in Rushing YPG - 116.3 YPG

8th Overall in Rushing Attempts - 310 attempts

20th Overall in Rushing Yards per Attempt - 4.1 YPA

9th Best in Sacks Allowed – 22





Coaching History

As a coach:

Michigan State (1999)
Graduate assistant

New England Patriots (2001)
Personnel assistant

New England Patriots (2002–2003)
Defensive assistant

New England Patriots (2004)
Quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2005–2008)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

Denver Broncos (2009–2010)
Head coach

St. Louis Rams (2011)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2012–2019)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2020)
Offensive coordinator

New England Patriots (2021–present)
Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach

 

Strengths…


Sustained Offensive Production – Not many of the candidates we will be looking at this offseason can claim the sustained offensive production that McDaniels can as the Pats offensive coordinator…McDaniel took over the role in 2005-2008 producing the 6th, 11th, 1st & 5th offence in Total Yards per Game with the 10th, 5th, 1st & 7th best scoring offence…that was enough to convince the Denver Broncos to hire McDaniels as their Head Coach…more on that later…4 years later and he was back in New England and picked things up right where he left off…


2012: 1st in Total Yards…1st in Scoring Offence.

2013: 6th in Total Yards…2nd in Scoring Offence.

2014: 10th in Total Yards…1st in Scoring Offence.

2015: 9th in Total Yards…3rd in Scoring Offence.

2016: 4th in Total Yards…3rd in Scoring Offence.

2017: 1st in Total Yards…2nd in Scoring Offence.

2018: 4th in Total Yards…4th in Scoring Offence.

2019: 14th in Total Yards…7th in Scoring Offence.

2020: 26th in Total Yards…27th in Scoring Offence.

10 out of 13 times the Pats have been in the top ten of total offence…more impressively 12 out of 13 seasons in the top ten of scoring offence…no offensive coordinator who plays under a defensive head coach can claim that much success over that length of time with ever changing players…now the one near constants has been Tom Brady which of course helps considering he is the greatest of all time however McDaniels has consistently been the driving force behind adapting and changing the scheme that Brady and co play in…he understands how to adapt and be versatile in his approach and when you really deep dive into the Pats offence they production very rarely comes from the same people in back to back years…they pivot to who gives them the best change to win in any given situation…I have detailed this in the offensive scheme and philosophy section.



QB Development & Teacher -

Anytime you hear a players speak about McDaniels one of the most consistent word you hear is teacher…everyone says this guy is an excellent teach…fantastic at preparation and details wither that be coaching a physical technique or discussion how a receiver should read a coverage on an option route…that type of detail orientated teaching is exact what this young offence needs even outside of Fields who will of course be the main guy we need McDaniels to work with…let’s go through his history with young QBs…people seem to forget how long McDaniels and Tom Brady we together…in 2004 McDaniels became the QB coach in NE…it was Brady’s 4th season in the NFL and the first where Brady averaged better than 7 yards per attempt at 7.8YPA…the first time Brady broke a QB Rating of 90…the first time he didn’t have more than 10 fumbles on the season as ball security was a major issue early in Tom’s career…from there he just keep getting better and better but there is no doubt there was a step change when McDaniels took over coaching him in those key areas…2008 comes around and Brady goes down in the 1st game of the season…enter Matt Cassel…an UDFA out of USC who signed with the Pats in 2005 who attempted a grand total of 33 college passes in 4 years…Cassel was a pet project for McDaniels who thought he had the right physical attributes to develop…in his first 3 NFL seasons he played in mob up duty attempting just 39 passes…now he found himself at the helm of the #1 scoring and total offence in football…Cassel fitted in seamlessly…the Pats didn’t scale back the passing attempts with Cassel throwing the ball 516 times completing 63.4% of his passes for 3,693 yards along with 21 TDs and 11 INTs and leading the offence to being the 7th best scoring offence and 5th best offence in the NFL…Cassel said of McDaniels…

“No. 1, he’s a great person and he relates well to players, but in terms of him as a coach, one of his biggest strengths is his ability to teach,” Cassel said. “There’s guys that can go through a play, but not really know how to detail it, teach it, and have you fully understand conceptually why you’re going a certain place with the ball. Or why you’re making this check.

“He tells you the expectation of the [quarterback] room. From there, every single day he has something new and creative to keep your mind going, to keep you learning. He challenges you. By doing that, you grow so much as a player.”

“My rookie year going into my second year, I spent a whole offseason with Josh,” Cassel said. “He would set up unique drills that are unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. He’d have me call out plays in a two-minute situation. We’d work down the field and he’d say, ‘We have a second-and-6, what do you like here?’ We’d work all the way down to the red zone and it was ‘What’s your top two red zone calls?’ … It makes you think about situational football, why you’re calling certain plays, what your go-to plays are, and it allows him to know what you like.”

It is now clear that we are seeing the development of Mac Jones at the position…through 11 games this season Jones has completed 70.2% of his passes for 2540 yards averaging 7.3 YPA with 14 TDs & 8 INTs with a QB rating of 94.7%...Jones was seen as being pro ready but those numbers are massively impressive for any rookie QB especially one who has already attempted 349 passes.

McDaniels as a teacher would be a huge improvement for Justin Fields.



Previous Head Coaching Experience – So we will go over the obvious negatives of McDaniels’ Head Coaching experience in the weaknesses section however let’s look at the positives…as much as guys like Daboll & Moore have been excellent offensive coordinators for a long time they have never faced the pressures of being a Head Coach in the NFL…the situation with our ownership/GM/HC is clearly not good right now…the idea of brining in someone who has never done it before presents a far higher risk that a guy who might not have been a great head coach the first time round but at least knows what to expect when things are tough…he has walked into a bad situation in the past and will have learned a lot from that situation…it’s basically impossible to gain that experience without having lived through it.



The Opinion’s of the GOATs – Every one of us can have our opinions on McDaniels…some good…some bad…but none of us can have as important or relevant of an opinion as IMO the greatest football player of all time and the greatest head coach of all time…here is what Brady & Belichick have to say about McDaniels…

Tom Brady said, “He and I are extremely comfortable with one another. He’s a great coach. I love being coached by him. He comes prepared every single day. He’s always got something new to add to us. He brings a lot of energy to our offense. He’s a great coach.”

“I see why there is a lot of interest and there should be because I think he’s the best in the NFL,” Brady said, via Ryan Hannable of WEEI. “Great coaches get opportunities and he’s fortunate to be in a position where he should get them because he’s earned it. I would hate to lose him, but I think it’s always aspirational for a coach because it’s great to lead a team, lead an organization.

“He’s been spectacular in every way for me. I could never be the player that I am without him and he challenges me every week. I have so much confidence in him as a coach and his abilities and the way he leads our offense. He’s spectacular and it would be tough to lose him. We certainly aren’t going to lose him in the next two weeks. Like I said, I hope he doesn’t for my own personal sake, but I can understand all those reasons why these other teams would want him to lead their organization.”



Belichick offered some effusive praise of McDaniels on Friday, describing how the offensive coordinator is always "a step ahead" in noticing potential on-field adjustments -- much like Belichick's former coaching partner and close friend, Nick Saban.

"It’s kind of like Saban when we were in Cleveland," Belichick said, as seen in the video above. "Nick knew what every player on the field was doing. He knew what the guard keys were. He knew what the running back was keying. He knew what the nose guard was doing. He knew what everybody on the field was doing.

"Josh is kind of the same way. He knows what all 11 guys are doing on offense, what their keys are, what their adjustments are and all that. And he knows defensively how the guy is taught to play certain blocks or routes or reads and how to attack them."

"I don’t think he really has any weaknesses as a coach," Belichick said. "He understands what every player on the field is doing on offense and defense. He has a great vision for how to utilize the skills of the players on his side of the ball and how to try to attack the weaknesses, whether it be personnel weaknesses or schematic weaknesses or how to try to force the opponent into a situation that he’s able to take advantage of.

"... Josh is creative. He’s a very forward thinker. He’s got great poise during the game. He never gets rattled, never loses track of the situation. He’s always a play or two ahead."



Weaknesses

Ancient History – McDaniels got his first crack at a Head Coaching gig from the Denver Broncos in 2009 when he was just 33 Years Old…he immediately tried to do his best Bill Belichick impression and implement a tough no nonsense style on his locker room and when making personnel decisions…McDaniels looked to get rid of Jay Culter in favour of Matt Cassel…when Cutler found out he went to Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen and explained he no longer want to play for the Broncos…the trade for Cassel fell through and Cutler was traded to us instead…the following year McDaniels traded away Peyton Hillis, Tony Scheffler & Brandon Marshall…Marshall following a fallen out and benching…Broncos fans were livid…but should they have been? I mean let’s be honest was Cutler ever going to be a franchise QB? We never saw it…was trading Hillis or Scheffler as deal breaker in the grand scheme of things? No…and was McDaniels the first or last coach Brandon Marshall fell out with? No…even other players who didn’t like McDaniels said they have never been more prepared for a game week in week out than under McDaniels…he was an excellent teacher and game planner…the criticism was that players didn’t want to run through walls for him…that is somewhat concerning but if you ask a player like Tom Brady if they would run through a wall for McDaniels the answer would 100% be yes…sometimes that has to come from within and individual…you hope your head coach can bring that out of your team and it is one of the things we hope as a leader he has developed over the last 10 years but with most people in life there will be mixed opinions…there was also an incident where the video editor of the Broncos decided to film the Dolphins practice ahead of their game in London…he then presented the tape to McDaniels who didn’t watch it or allow anyone else on staff to do so…the issue was he never reported the incident to the NFL which was undoubtedly wrong…but ask yourself the question…would you? Would you report your own staff for breaking a rule? What would that do to the teams view of you? How would fans feel about you if you snitched on your own team? It’s a really tricky one…McDaniels was fined $50,000 dollars and it is reportedly one of the main reasons he was then fired…moving on to the next controversy with McDaniels and it’s with the Colts in 2018…in an ironic twist of events some around the league felt we were leaning towards McDaniels as our head coach with the Colts set to appoint Matt Nagy…instead we pivoted to Nagy and the Colts then offered the job to their 2nd choice of McDaniels…McDaniels then accepted this role before receiving a call from both Bill Belichick who assured McDaniels of an even bigger role on staff and Robert Kraft who not only upped his pay but also assured McDaniels that he was the future head coach of the Pats when Belichick decided he wanted to hang it up…that information was a huge change for McDaniels along with the news that Colts’ QB Andrew Luck was going to have further surgery and was thinking about retirement (which he did after the 2018 season) McDaniels then rejected the job…I can understand why he changed his mind given the circumstances…who would you rather coach Brady or Jacob Bissett who was the #3 in NE? Who would you rather coach the superbowl champion Pats or the rebuilding just lost your franchise QB Colts? Especially when Kraft is paying you around the same salary? McDaniels said of the situation…


“Chris (Ballard) was tremendous the whole entire time,’’ McDaniels said of the Colts general manager. “He’s an incredible human being. He’s great at what he does. He’s going to be successful. It was difficult. I had a friendship with him — I still do ... He’s a guy that I have a lot of respect for and admiration for. He was a big reason why I was interested in that job in the first place. It was as difficult a decision as I’ve ever made professionally. He handled it extremely well, he was a complete professional about it.’’


“The opportunity to stay here and work for who I think is the greatest owner in sports and the best head football coach in the history of our game, to work with the best quarterback that has ever played (Tom Brady) ... Look, I’m privileged to have the opportunity to do that and when they kind of crystallized that — ‘Hey, here’s what we see going forward and here’s how we would like you to fit into it’ — it gave me a reason to stop and say, ‘all right, what’s the best decision for me?’ And certainly it was difficult. But I made the decision on my own, nobody pushed me into it,’’ McDaniels said.


McDaniels also had to notify assistant coaches the Colts already had on board, primarily defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.


“I spoke to all of them that night right away, shortly after I talked to Chris,’’ McDaniels said. “They were professionals. Like I said, it wasn’t easy for anybody. I apologized to them if it put them in an awkward position. They’re all there (in Indianapolis), which I’m very happy about. They have great opportunities, they’re great coaches, they’re great people, and I’m happy that it worked out for them in that regard.


“Again, it was never my intention to go into this and put anybody in an awkward position or do any harm to anybody or do anything to hurt anybody’s career. That certainly wasn’t a part of my thought process. I just felt like, once I knew the whole picture and I had the opportunity to make a decision, it was tough but I feel like I made the right one.’’


I very much so believed McDaniels was a a prick before properly digging into the circumstances of both these situations…as much as at the time his decisions can certainly be questioned looking back you have to see that in some ways he made the right calls.





The “New England Stink” – Much like with Brian Daboll and to even more of an extent questions have to be asked about McDaniels being able to do it outside of New England and under the watchful eye of Bill Belichick…again I think there is only so much to be gained from reviewing McDaniels offences in both Denver & St. Louis simply because it was so long ago and the NFL has changed so much…I feel McDaniels has changed so much since then…however there is no question that front office personnel and coaches who have left New England rarely if ever…the two who have been part of the “Patriot Way” who have faired the best have been guys who moved on to other places before taking on their GM/HC role in Jon Robinson & Mike Vrabel (who never coached for the Pats) in Tennessee…it can work but it takes commitment from top to bottom and there is a higher risk of failure than with most (is that just down to so many people attempting it tho).



Potential Coaching Staff

GM – Dave Ziegler…Ziegler isn’t well known but he is the closest thing to a GM the Pats have after Bill Belichick…currently the director of player personnel Ziegler got his break into the NFL when McDaniels got the head coaching gig in Denver before landing with NE…Ziegler & McDaniels have been really close since the late 90s when they were teammates at John Carroll…Ziegler is known for being straight talking and a quality talent evaluator…Roman Phifer would also be an outside bet.

DL/AHC – Jay Rodgers…Rodgers was excellent when her was here from 2015-2020 he has continued to build his reputation under Brandon Staley in LA and would make an ideal #2 to McDaniels who he was on staff within Denver as a coaching assistant.

ST/AHC – Joe Judge…Judge will be out in NY at the end of the year and I highly doubt will get another shot at being an HC however he is one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL and his experience as a HC is never a bad thing to have on staff.

OC – Chad O’Shea…O’Shea is a guy who if you ask fans of Miami or Cleveland for their opinion of him you probably won’t get a glowing endorsement…some will sight his prickly nature or his overly complex scheme as the issue but there is no doubt he is viewed highly in the NFL…I wouldn’t trust him as a play caller but with McDaniels here that isn’t an issue…O’Shea is an excellent teacher especially at WR where we will be rebuilding this offseason.

OC - Mick Lombardi…Lombardi is the Pats current WR coach and viewed highly by McDaniels who commends the fact that he sees football in many of the same ways as he does when it comes to coaching…he clearly sees a lot of himself in Mick and could give him the job to continue that education.

DC – Matt Patricia…Patricia was a terrible head coach but for a long term and excellent DC in New England…as much as Bill Belichick will always be the key to that defence it isn’t a coincidence that it is better now than it was when Patricia was away…Patricia is another excellent teach which seems to be the biggest thing missing from this current coaching staff.

DC – Jerod Mayo…If we want an up-and-coming coach who is looking for a opportunity to become a coordinator then probably a head coach within the next few years Mayo would be a quality pick up…Mayo was a really good player for a long time and seems to have brought that into his coaching career…risk is he has never called plays so I would prefer someone like Patricia.

DC – Brian Flores…Flores has had a rough season in Miami and could be able to be let go…if that is the case I feel he would make a really good DC and member of McDaniels coaching staff given his experience as a head coach…as bad as this season has been 2020 the Dolphins defence was #4 is scoring D so there is potential there…especially if he could convince current NYG DC Patrick Graham to come with him.



Offensive Scheme & Philosophies

I love McDaniels “scheme” because he has no scheme…in his own words his job is to take his teams variables and put them in a position to beat the opponents’ variables on a weekly basis…to do that McDaniels has shown over the years he can take different players at different positions and make them successful…2012 NE were 7th in Rushing Yards & 2nd in Rushing Attempts per game which saw Steven Ridley top 1,200 yards with 18 TDs on the season…2013 it was all change with the Pats becoming extremely balanced finishing 8th in Passing Attempts per game & 9th in Rushing Attempts per game…the running game became by committee with no RB topping 800 yards…2014…rushing attack basically became non existent finishing 13th in attempts with no RB over 500 yards…however enter Gronk who topped 1,100 yards and 12 TDs…2015 and Gronk put up similar numbers but the offence continued to change going from 13th in Passing Attempts per game to 4th which a renewed emphasis on the short quick passing game…Edelman & Amendola having almost 90 targets a piece and gaining almost 700 yards each…2016 no Gronk? No problem…back to the running game with LeGarrette Blount going for over 1,100 yards and 18 TD…they created opportunity for Edelman with 159 targets with him topping 1,100 yard receiving…2017 no Blount or Edelman? No problem…Gronk is back so we pivot to the TE spot with him going for over 1,000 yards…Brandin Cooks also comes in and goes for over 1,000 yards…the running game that was so successful in 2016 mainly behind one man? Now replaced by 4 different RBs using their skill sets to not only go for a combined 1,600 yards on the ground but also over 1,000 yards through the air…2018 and the most targeted player in the Pats passing game? RB James White with 123 targets as he finishes first on the team for receiving TDs and 2nd in receiving yards while having less than 100 rushing attempts…the ball was spread around more than usual with six players having more than 45 targets on the season…2019 and Edelman is back up to full speed with 153 targets and 100 receptions…James White continues to be a threat out of the backfield but the TE spot has almost completely disappeared from the passing attack with just 53 targets to all TEs throughout the whole season…2020 and Brady is gone…the offence has 82 more rushing attempts than passing with three players going for over 500 yard rushing on the season…Jacobi Meyers becomes the most targeted receiver and instead of being in inside guy he plays mainly on the outside…2021 so far…Mac Jones takes over from Cam Newton and we are back to old school Pats football…they line up with a FB…they have 3 RBs averaging over 4 yards a carry…the ball is being spread about again with 6 players already over 30 targets on the season and the TE is back as a redzone weapon with Hunter Henry turning 33 receptions into 7 TDs…that ability to change the focal point of your offence basically year in year out is extremely impressive…to run guys in and out due to losing people in FA or injury and still continue to be productive is exactly what you need for long term success…yes having Brady was a massive factor…but the plays still need to be designed to get guys open for Brady to find…the teaching of what will be different from one year/game to the next still has to be done and McDaniels has shown a clear ability to do that…people will point to this recent history and say he can’t use outside receivers…well go further back and Randy Moss would say different…two TE sets when Gronk & Hernandez were taking over the league…run heavy…short passing and attacking the middle of the field…McDaniels offence has done it all and being able to come here…evaluate the talent we have…then design an offence to fit it has to be the key to getting Fields and co in the best possible position to succeed.

What would we Need to Change to Help McDaniels’ Offence Succeed?

The one constant in New England amongst all the change over the years has been rock solid offensive line play…they are the one team in the NFL who above all others have understood the importance of keeping your QB up right…they might not have the biggest or most athletic offensive lines but they have also had tough and smart players up front…we would need to continue to build the OL to help keep Fields up right to run McDaniels’ scheme…hopefully they will be big and athletic but we also need to make sure they understand their assignments and can adapt when needed…outside of that I would expect McDaniels to build his offence to us…I would expect us to see some of what he did with Cam Newton in the QB run game…I would expect him to use Monty, Herbert & potentially Williams out of the backfield in the passing game…I would hope Kmet would become more of a factor…he would use Mooney in the slot where his quickness would be at it’s best…probably find another similar WR or possibly another TE…the running game use a FB or H-TE as a blocker and run outside zone…basically get him the most talented guys and let him decide how to use them.

Conclusion

The concern with McDaniels is obvious…do I read a ton into what happened in Denver? No due to it being over 10 years ago and some of his decisions that were controversial at the time now seeming pretty justified…the 2018 incident of backing out of the Colts job is the one that concerns me to a point but again a lot of information changed for McDaniels from the Colts, Belichick & Kraft and you can only make decisions on the information you have…I also think listening to him and the people that really know him he has grown as a coach and as a leader…when you have guys like Belichick saying he learns from him and Brady calling him a brother you have to take that seriously…that is the two best to ever do it saying this guy is for real…I think it is clear McDaniels would be an excellent candidate to develop Fields and design and offence that suits him…can he handle coaching the full team even with the excellent coaching staff he should be able to assemble? That is the risk you take but IMO it could be one that is well worth it.

[southdakbearfan]

McD has a .393 winning percentage as a head coach and was jettisoned 12 games into his second season at the helm, got whacked for videotaping another teams walkthrough and then took the st. louis rams offense to an awesome 12.1 ppg in 2011.

He also jettisoned the players, like B Marsh, that made a large portion of that 3800 yards possible for Orton.

Even his agent told him to pound sand after the Indy fiasco, and remember he had assistants in place that he hung out to dry on that deal as well already.

No freaking thanks.

[G08]

Bill Belichick was once fired, too.

From what I gathered, he never watched the footage but did fail to report it to the league.

The 2011 Rams had Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Kellen Clemens start games for them (woof)

B Marsh is/was a cancer everywhere he went (interestingly enough, no team he ever was on made the playoffs)

What happened in Indy was shitty, no doubt about it.


Give me a 45 year old wunderkid with 6 Super Bowl rings under his belt, along with 16 years of playcallng experience under his belt. What the fuck else have we go to lose at this point?

[southdakbearfan]

Bill Belichick was once fired, too.

From what I gathered, he never watched the footage but did fail to report it to the league.

The 2011 Rams had Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Kellen Clemens start games for them (woof)

B Marsh is/was a cancer everywhere he went (interestingly enough, no team he ever was on made the playoffs)

What happened in Indy was shitty, no doubt about it.


Give me a 45 year old wunderkid with 6 Super Bowl rings under his belt, along with 16 years of playcallng experience under his belt. What the fuck else have we go to lose at this point?

You could see the progress with Bill and the browns, owners just got antsy after an injury riddled season.

McD flamed out both places he wasn’t under Bill very fast and left his people in place with Indy in limbo. I think he is probably a great OC, I just don’t believe his past indicates any success being the man, let alone the ridiculous thought of giving him personnel power, you can argue his offensive prowess but absolutely nothing points to personnel management being remotely a strength. His personnel management in Denver and his Indy deal point to the opposite.

The Broncos, who have been well run for a long time saw enough after less than 2 seasons to pay him to go away. The Rams let him pursue other options even though he was under contract.

So is it Bill, McD, or Bill guiding McD. Sometimes good coordinators are just that.

[G08]

Bill Belichick was once fired, too.

From what I gathered, he never watched the footage but did fail to report it to the league.

The 2011 Rams had Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Kellen Clemens start games for them (woof)

B Marsh is/was a cancer everywhere he went (interestingly enough, no team he ever was on made the playoffs)

What happened in Indy was shitty, no doubt about it.


Give me a 45 year old wunderkid with 6 Super Bowl rings under his belt, along with 16 years of playcallng experience under his belt. What the fuck else have we go to lose at this point?

You could see the progress with Bill and the browns, owners just got antsy after an injury riddled season.

McD flamed out both places he wasn’t under Bill very fast and left his people in place with Indy in limbo. I think he is probably a great OC, I just don’t believe his past indicates any success being the man, let alone the ridiculous thought of giving him personnel power, you can argue his offensive prowess but absolutely nothing points to personnel management being remotely a strength. His personnel management in Denver and his Indy deal point to the opposite.

The Broncos, who have been well run for a long time saw enough after less than 2 seasons to pay him to go away. The Rams let him pursue other options even though he was under contract.

So is it Bill, McD, or Bill guiding McD. Sometimes good coordinators are just that.

Fair points, but I will add that he was 33 years old in Denver and 35 years old with the Rams. A lot can change and a coach can grow in 10+ years.

[southdakbearfan]

You could see the progress with Bill and the browns, owners just got antsy after an injury riddled season.

McD flamed out both places he wasn’t under Bill very fast and left his people in place with Indy in limbo. I think he is probably a great OC, I just don’t believe his past indicates any success being the man, let alone the ridiculous thought of giving him personnel power, you can argue his offensive prowess but absolutely nothing points to personnel management being remotely a strength. His personnel management in Denver and his Indy deal point to the opposite.

The Broncos, who have been well run for a long time saw enough after less than 2 seasons to pay him to go away. The Rams let him pursue other options even though he was under contract.

So is it Bill, McD, or Bill guiding McD. Sometimes good coordinators are just that.

Fair points, but I will add that he was 33 years old in Denver and 35 years old with the Rams. A lot can change and a coach can grow in 10+ years.

True enough.

I highly doubt he will even look, he seems attached to Bill and will probably be his replacement eventually.

[RichH55]

You could see the progress with Bill and the browns, owners just got antsy after an injury riddled season.

McD flamed out both places he wasn’t under Bill very fast and left his people in place with Indy in limbo. I think he is probably a great OC, I just don’t believe his past indicates any success being the man, let alone the ridiculous thought of giving him personnel power, you can argue his offensive prowess but absolutely nothing points to personnel management being remotely a strength. His personnel management in Denver and his Indy deal point to the opposite.

The Broncos, who have been well run for a long time saw enough after less than 2 seasons to pay him to go away. The Rams let him pursue other options even though he was under contract.

So is it Bill, McD, or Bill guiding McD. Sometimes good coordinators are just that.

Fair points, but I will add that he was 33 years old in Denver and 35 years old with the Rams. A lot can change and a coach can grow in 10+ years.

Fair point

[G08]

Fair points, but I will add that he was 33 years old in Denver and 35 years old with the Rams. A lot can change and a coach can grow in 10+ years.

True enough.

I highly doubt he will even look, he seems attached to Bill and will probably be his replacement eventually.

Some rumors that Kraft opened up the checkbook and is paying McDaniels like a head coach.

Belichick is 40 wins away from being the NFL all-time leader, so one could argue he'll be around for at least 4-5 more seasons. Does McDaniels want to wait that long? Does he want to "build his own Empire"?

I'm sure we'll find yet another way to fuck up this hire, I'd just rather do it with someone who actually knows how to build an offense and comes with 6 Super Bowl rings.

[Atkins&Rebel]

I wouldn't personally like the guy, but I do thing McDaniels would be the best thing for us as a team, with him having a large say in who we draft, if not outright getting rid of Pace and just keeping a guy like Cliff Stein to sign contracts and another guy who can lead the scouting department.

[G08]

[The Cooler King]

I wouldn't personally like the guy, but I do thing McDaniels would be the best thing for us as a team, with him having a large say in who we draft, if not outright getting rid of Pace and just keeping a guy like Cliff Stein to sign contracts and another guy who can lead the scouting department.

Are we sure McDaniels should have a large say in the draft? Who was responsible for Tim Tebow in the first rouns lol. They did have some decent drafts those two years outside of that though. Wonder how involved he was. If McDaniels were the guy, I think he still needs a full GM above him with full GM powers, though I'm sure it would eventually become a power struggle if McDaniels is any good. One of the realities, good coaches get personnel creep. Don't think I'd start him that way though.

[The Marshall Plan]

What is causing the McDaniels nonsense?

He's an asshole. Why would you want that? There's a difference between a motivator or stern leader and an asshole.

Then he's from the Belichick Tree. The sheer amount of penis envy alone on the part of the McCaskey's will prevent that from happening.

For realistic candidates look towards the beta male coordinator crowd who has never had an HC job before.

Or if Pace gets fired too, then perhaps somebody like Ryan Day, but the more I think about the more I realize that Day would be a moron to come here.

[The Marshall Plan]

Awesome writeup on McDaniels... not my work!

Josh McDaniels – NE Patriots Offensive Coordinator

2021 Pats Offence Rankings (to date)

17th Overall in Total YPG - 351.8 YPG

6th Overall in PPG - 27.3 YPG

5th in 3rd Down Conversion - 45.77%

16th Overall in Passing YPG - 235.5 YPG

17th Overall in Passing Attempts - 359 attempts

8th Overall in YPPA – 7.7 YPP

2nd Overall in Passing Completion Percentage – 70.75%

14th Overall in Rushing YPG - 116.3 YPG

8th Overall in Rushing Attempts - 310 attempts

20th Overall in Rushing Yards per Attempt - 4.1 YPA

9th Best in Sacks Allowed – 22





Coaching History

As a coach:

Michigan State (1999)
Graduate assistant

New England Patriots (2001)
Personnel assistant

New England Patriots (2002–2003)
Defensive assistant

New England Patriots (2004)
Quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2005–2008)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

Denver Broncos (2009–2010)
Head coach

St. Louis Rams (2011)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2012–2019)
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach

New England Patriots (2020)
Offensive coordinator

New England Patriots (2021–present)
Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach

 

Strengths…


Sustained Offensive Production – Not many of the candidates we will be looking at this offseason can claim the sustained offensive production that McDaniels can as the Pats offensive coordinator…McDaniel took over the role in 2005-2008 producing the 6th, 11th, 1st & 5th offence in Total Yards per Game with the 10th, 5th, 1st & 7th best scoring offence…that was enough to convince the Denver Broncos to hire McDaniels as their Head Coach…more on that later…4 years later and he was back in New England and picked things up right where he left off…


2012: 1st in Total Yards…1st in Scoring Offence.

2013: 6th in Total Yards…2nd in Scoring Offence.

2014: 10th in Total Yards…1st in Scoring Offence.

2015: 9th in Total Yards…3rd in Scoring Offence.

2016: 4th in Total Yards…3rd in Scoring Offence.

2017: 1st in Total Yards…2nd in Scoring Offence.

2018: 4th in Total Yards…4th in Scoring Offence.

2019: 14th in Total Yards…7th in Scoring Offence.

2020: 26th in Total Yards…27th in Scoring Offence.

10 out of 13 times the Pats have been in the top ten of total offence…more impressively 12 out of 13 seasons in the top ten of scoring offence…no offensive coordinator who plays under a defensive head coach can claim that much success over that length of time with ever changing players…now the one near constants has been Tom Brady which of course helps considering he is the greatest of all time however McDaniels has consistently been the driving force behind adapting and changing the scheme that Brady and co play in…he understands how to adapt and be versatile in his approach and when you really deep dive into the Pats offence they production very rarely comes from the same people in back to back years…they pivot to who gives them the best change to win in any given situation…I have detailed this in the offensive scheme and philosophy section.



QB Development & Teacher -

Anytime you hear a players speak about McDaniels one of the most consistent word you hear is teacher…everyone says this guy is an excellent teach…fantastic at preparation and details wither that be coaching a physical technique or discussion how a receiver should read a coverage on an option route…that type of detail orientated teaching is exact what this young offence needs even outside of Fields who will of course be the main guy we need McDaniels to work with…let’s go through his history with young QBs…people seem to forget how long McDaniels and Tom Brady we together…in 2004 McDaniels became the QB coach in NE…it was Brady’s 4th season in the NFL and the first where Brady averaged better than 7 yards per attempt at 7.8YPA…the first time Brady broke a QB Rating of 90…the first time he didn’t have more than 10 fumbles on the season as ball security was a major issue early in Tom’s career…from there he just keep getting better and better but there is no doubt there was a step change when McDaniels took over coaching him in those key areas…2008 comes around and Brady goes down in the 1st game of the season…enter Matt Cassel…an UDFA out of USC who signed with the Pats in 2005 who attempted a grand total of 33 college passes in 4 years…Cassel was a pet project for McDaniels who thought he had the right physical attributes to develop…in his first 3 NFL seasons he played in mob up duty attempting just 39 passes…now he found himself at the helm of the #1 scoring and total offence in football…Cassel fitted in seamlessly…the Pats didn’t scale back the passing attempts with Cassel throwing the ball 516 times completing 63.4% of his passes for 3,693 yards along with 21 TDs and 11 INTs and leading the offence to being the 7th best scoring offence and 5th best offence in the NFL…Cassel said of McDaniels…

“No. 1, he’s a great person and he relates well to players, but in terms of him as a coach, one of his biggest strengths is his ability to teach,” Cassel said. “There’s guys that can go through a play, but not really know how to detail it, teach it, and have you fully understand conceptually why you’re going a certain place with the ball. Or why you’re making this check.

“He tells you the expectation of the [quarterback] room. From there, every single day he has something new and creative to keep your mind going, to keep you learning. He challenges you. By doing that, you grow so much as a player.”

“My rookie year going into my second year, I spent a whole offseason with Josh,” Cassel said. “He would set up unique drills that are unlike anywhere I’ve ever been. He’d have me call out plays in a two-minute situation. We’d work down the field and he’d say, ‘We have a second-and-6, what do you like here?’ We’d work all the way down to the red zone and it was ‘What’s your top two red zone calls?’ … It makes you think about situational football, why you’re calling certain plays, what your go-to plays are, and it allows him to know what you like.”

It is now clear that we are seeing the development of Mac Jones at the position…through 11 games this season Jones has completed 70.2% of his passes for 2540 yards averaging 7.3 YPA with 14 TDs & 8 INTs with a QB rating of 94.7%...Jones was seen as being pro ready but those numbers are massively impressive for any rookie QB especially one who has already attempted 349 passes.

McDaniels as a teacher would be a huge improvement for Justin Fields.



Previous Head Coaching Experience – So we will go over the obvious negatives of McDaniels’ Head Coaching experience in the weaknesses section however let’s look at the positives…as much as guys like Daboll & Moore have been excellent offensive coordinators for a long time they have never faced the pressures of being a Head Coach in the NFL…the situation with our ownership/GM/HC is clearly not good right now…the idea of brining in someone who has never done it before presents a far higher risk that a guy who might not have been a great head coach the first time round but at least knows what to expect when things are tough…he has walked into a bad situation in the past and will have learned a lot from that situation…it’s basically impossible to gain that experience without having lived through it.



The Opinion’s of the GOATs – Every one of us can have our opinions on McDaniels…some good…some bad…but none of us can have as important or relevant of an opinion as IMO the greatest football player of all time and the greatest head coach of all time…here is what Brady & Belichick have to say about McDaniels…

Tom Brady said, “He and I are extremely comfortable with one another. He’s a great coach. I love being coached by him. He comes prepared every single day. He’s always got something new to add to us. He brings a lot of energy to our offense. He’s a great coach.”

“I see why there is a lot of interest and there should be because I think he’s the best in the NFL,” Brady said, via Ryan Hannable of WEEI. “Great coaches get opportunities and he’s fortunate to be in a position where he should get them because he’s earned it. I would hate to lose him, but I think it’s always aspirational for a coach because it’s great to lead a team, lead an organization.

“He’s been spectacular in every way for me. I could never be the player that I am without him and he challenges me every week. I have so much confidence in him as a coach and his abilities and the way he leads our offense. He’s spectacular and it would be tough to lose him. We certainly aren’t going to lose him in the next two weeks. Like I said, I hope he doesn’t for my own personal sake, but I can understand all those reasons why these other teams would want him to lead their organization.”



Belichick offered some effusive praise of McDaniels on Friday, describing how the offensive coordinator is always "a step ahead" in noticing potential on-field adjustments -- much like Belichick's former coaching partner and close friend, Nick Saban.

"It’s kind of like Saban when we were in Cleveland," Belichick said, as seen in the video above. "Nick knew what every player on the field was doing. He knew what the guard keys were. He knew what the running back was keying. He knew what the nose guard was doing. He knew what everybody on the field was doing.

"Josh is kind of the same way. He knows what all 11 guys are doing on offense, what their keys are, what their adjustments are and all that. And he knows defensively how the guy is taught to play certain blocks or routes or reads and how to attack them."

"I don’t think he really has any weaknesses as a coach," Belichick said. "He understands what every player on the field is doing on offense and defense. He has a great vision for how to utilize the skills of the players on his side of the ball and how to try to attack the weaknesses, whether it be personnel weaknesses or schematic weaknesses or how to try to force the opponent into a situation that he’s able to take advantage of.

"... Josh is creative. He’s a very forward thinker. He’s got great poise during the game. He never gets rattled, never loses track of the situation. He’s always a play or two ahead."



Weaknesses

Ancient History – McDaniels got his first crack at a Head Coaching gig from the Denver Broncos in 2009 when he was just 33 Years Old…he immediately tried to do his best Bill Belichick impression and implement a tough no nonsense style on his locker room and when making personnel decisions…McDaniels looked to get rid of Jay Culter in favour of Matt Cassel…when Cutler found out he went to Broncos’ owner Pat Bowlen and explained he no longer want to play for the Broncos…the trade for Cassel fell through and Cutler was traded to us instead…the following year McDaniels traded away Peyton Hillis, Tony Scheffler & Brandon Marshall…Marshall following a fallen out and benching…Broncos fans were livid…but should they have been? I mean let’s be honest was Cutler ever going to be a franchise QB? We never saw it…was trading Hillis or Scheffler as deal breaker in the grand scheme of things? No…and was McDaniels the first or last coach Brandon Marshall fell out with? No…even other players who didn’t like McDaniels said they have never been more prepared for a game week in week out than under McDaniels…he was an excellent teacher and game planner…the criticism was that players didn’t want to run through walls for him…that is somewhat concerning but if you ask a player like Tom Brady if they would run through a wall for McDaniels the answer would 100% be yes…sometimes that has to come from within and individual…you hope your head coach can bring that out of your team and it is one of the things we hope as a leader he has developed over the last 10 years but with most people in life there will be mixed opinions…there was also an incident where the video editor of the Broncos decided to film the Dolphins practice ahead of their game in London…he then presented the tape to McDaniels who didn’t watch it or allow anyone else on staff to do so…the issue was he never reported the incident to the NFL which was undoubtedly wrong…but ask yourself the question…would you? Would you report your own staff for breaking a rule? What would that do to the teams view of you? How would fans feel about you if you snitched on your own team? It’s a really tricky one…McDaniels was fined $50,000 dollars and it is reportedly one of the main reasons he was then fired…moving on to the next controversy with McDaniels and it’s with the Colts in 2018…in an ironic twist of events some around the league felt we were leaning towards McDaniels as our head coach with the Colts set to appoint Matt Nagy…instead we pivoted to Nagy and the Colts then offered the job to their 2nd choice of McDaniels…McDaniels then accepted this role before receiving a call from both Bill Belichick who assured McDaniels of an even bigger role on staff and Robert Kraft who not only upped his pay but also assured McDaniels that he was the future head coach of the Pats when Belichick decided he wanted to hang it up…that information was a huge change for McDaniels along with the news that Colts’ QB Andrew Luck was going to have further surgery and was thinking about retirement (which he did after the 2018 season) McDaniels then rejected the job…I can understand why he changed his mind given the circumstances…who would you rather coach Brady or Jacob Bissett who was the #3 in NE? Who would you rather coach the superbowl champion Pats or the rebuilding just lost your franchise QB Colts? Especially when Kraft is paying you around the same salary? McDaniels said of the situation…


“Chris (Ballard) was tremendous the whole entire time,’’ McDaniels said of the Colts general manager. “He’s an incredible human being. He’s great at what he does. He’s going to be successful. It was difficult. I had a friendship with him — I still do ... He’s a guy that I have a lot of respect for and admiration for. He was a big reason why I was interested in that job in the first place. It was as difficult a decision as I’ve ever made professionally. He handled it extremely well, he was a complete professional about it.’’


“The opportunity to stay here and work for who I think is the greatest owner in sports and the best head football coach in the history of our game, to work with the best quarterback that has ever played (Tom Brady) ... Look, I’m privileged to have the opportunity to do that and when they kind of crystallized that — ‘Hey, here’s what we see going forward and here’s how we would like you to fit into it’ — it gave me a reason to stop and say, ‘all right, what’s the best decision for me?’ And certainly it was difficult. But I made the decision on my own, nobody pushed me into it,’’ McDaniels said.


McDaniels also had to notify assistant coaches the Colts already had on board, primarily defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.


“I spoke to all of them that night right away, shortly after I talked to Chris,’’ McDaniels said. “They were professionals. Like I said, it wasn’t easy for anybody. I apologized to them if it put them in an awkward position. They’re all there (in Indianapolis), which I’m very happy about. They have great opportunities, they’re great coaches, they’re great people, and I’m happy that it worked out for them in that regard.


“Again, it was never my intention to go into this and put anybody in an awkward position or do any harm to anybody or do anything to hurt anybody’s career. That certainly wasn’t a part of my thought process. I just felt like, once I knew the whole picture and I had the opportunity to make a decision, it was tough but I feel like I made the right one.’’


I very much so believed McDaniels was a a prick before properly digging into the circumstances of both these situations…as much as at the time his decisions can certainly be questioned looking back you have to see that in some ways he made the right calls.





The “New England Stink” – Much like with Brian Daboll and to even more of an extent questions have to be asked about McDaniels being able to do it outside of New England and under the watchful eye of Bill Belichick…again I think there is only so much to be gained from reviewing McDaniels offences in both Denver & St. Louis simply because it was so long ago and the NFL has changed so much…I feel McDaniels has changed so much since then…however there is no question that front office personnel and coaches who have left New England rarely if ever…the two who have been part of the “Patriot Way” who have faired the best have been guys who moved on to other places before taking on their GM/HC role in Jon Robinson & Mike Vrabel (who never coached for the Pats) in Tennessee…it can work but it takes commitment from top to bottom and there is a higher risk of failure than with most (is that just down to so many people attempting it tho).



Potential Coaching Staff

GM – Dave Ziegler…Ziegler isn’t well known but he is the closest thing to a GM the Pats have after Bill Belichick…currently the director of player personnel Ziegler got his break into the NFL when McDaniels got the head coaching gig in Denver before landing with NE…Ziegler & McDaniels have been really close since the late 90s when they were teammates at John Carroll…Ziegler is known for being straight talking and a quality talent evaluator…Roman Phifer would also be an outside bet.

DL/AHC – Jay Rodgers…Rodgers was excellent when her was here from 2015-2020 he has continued to build his reputation under Brandon Staley in LA and would make an ideal #2 to McDaniels who he was on staff within Denver as a coaching assistant.

ST/AHC – Joe Judge…Judge will be out in NY at the end of the year and I highly doubt will get another shot at being an HC however he is one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL and his experience as a HC is never a bad thing to have on staff.

OC – Chad O’Shea…O’Shea is a guy who if you ask fans of Miami or Cleveland for their opinion of him you probably won’t get a glowing endorsement…some will sight his prickly nature or his overly complex scheme as the issue but there is no doubt he is viewed highly in the NFL…I wouldn’t trust him as a play caller but with McDaniels here that isn’t an issue…O’Shea is an excellent teacher especially at WR where we will be rebuilding this offseason.

OC - Mick Lombardi…Lombardi is the Pats current WR coach and viewed highly by McDaniels who commends the fact that he sees football in many of the same ways as he does when it comes to coaching…he clearly sees a lot of himself in Mick and could give him the job to continue that education.

DC – Matt Patricia…Patricia was a terrible head coach but for a long term and excellent DC in New England…as much as Bill Belichick will always be the key to that defence it isn’t a coincidence that it is better now than it was when Patricia was away…Patricia is another excellent teach which seems to be the biggest thing missing from this current coaching staff.

DC – Jerod Mayo…If we want an up-and-coming coach who is looking for a opportunity to become a coordinator then probably a head coach within the next few years Mayo would be a quality pick up…Mayo was a really good player for a long time and seems to have brought that into his coaching career…risk is he has never called plays so I would prefer someone like Patricia.

DC – Brian Flores…Flores has had a rough season in Miami and could be able to be let go…if that is the case I feel he would make a really good DC and member of McDaniels coaching staff given his experience as a head coach…as bad as this season has been 2020 the Dolphins defence was #4 is scoring D so there is potential there…especially if he could convince current NYG DC Patrick Graham to come with him.



Offensive Scheme & Philosophies

I love McDaniels “scheme” because he has no scheme…in his own words his job is to take his teams variables and put them in a position to beat the opponents’ variables on a weekly basis…to do that McDaniels has shown over the years he can take different players at different positions and make them successful…2012 NE were 7th in Rushing Yards & 2nd in Rushing Attempts per game which saw Steven Ridley top 1,200 yards with 18 TDs on the season…2013 it was all change with the Pats becoming extremely balanced finishing 8th in Passing Attempts per game & 9th in Rushing Attempts per game…the running game became by committee with no RB topping 800 yards…2014…rushing attack basically became non existent finishing 13th in attempts with no RB over 500 yards…however enter Gronk who topped 1,100 yards and 12 TDs…2015 and Gronk put up similar numbers but the offence continued to change going from 13th in Passing Attempts per game to 4th which a renewed emphasis on the short quick passing game…Edelman & Amendola having almost 90 targets a piece and gaining almost 700 yards each…2016 no Gronk? No problem…back to the running game with LeGarrette Blount going for over 1,100 yards and 18 TD…they created opportunity for Edelman with 159 targets with him topping 1,100 yard receiving…2017 no Blount or Edelman? No problem…Gronk is back so we pivot to the TE spot with him going for over 1,000 yards…Brandin Cooks also comes in and goes for over 1,000 yards…the running game that was so successful in 2016 mainly behind one man? Now replaced by 4 different RBs using their skill sets to not only go for a combined 1,600 yards on the ground but also over 1,000 yards through the air…2018 and the most targeted player in the Pats passing game? RB James White with 123 targets as he finishes first on the team for receiving TDs and 2nd in receiving yards while having less than 100 rushing attempts…the ball was spread around more than usual with six players having more than 45 targets on the season…2019 and Edelman is back up to full speed with 153 targets and 100 receptions…James White continues to be a threat out of the backfield but the TE spot has almost completely disappeared from the passing attack with just 53 targets to all TEs throughout the whole season…2020 and Brady is gone…the offence has 82 more rushing attempts than passing with three players going for over 500 yard rushing on the season…Jacobi Meyers becomes the most targeted receiver and instead of being in inside guy he plays mainly on the outside…2021 so far…Mac Jones takes over from Cam Newton and we are back to old school Pats football…they line up with a FB…they have 3 RBs averaging over 4 yards a carry…the ball is being spread about again with 6 players already over 30 targets on the season and the TE is back as a redzone weapon with Hunter Henry turning 33 receptions into 7 TDs…that ability to change the focal point of your offence basically year in year out is extremely impressive…to run guys in and out due to losing people in FA or injury and still continue to be productive is exactly what you need for long term success…yes having Brady was a massive factor…but the plays still need to be designed to get guys open for Brady to find…the teaching of what will be different from one year/game to the next still has to be done and McDaniels has shown a clear ability to do that…people will point to this recent history and say he can’t use outside receivers…well go further back and Randy Moss would say different…two TE sets when Gronk & Hernandez were taking over the league…run heavy…short passing and attacking the middle of the field…McDaniels offence has done it all and being able to come here…evaluate the talent we have…then design an offence to fit it has to be the key to getting Fields and co in the best possible position to succeed.

What would we Need to Change to Help McDaniels’ Offence Succeed?

The one constant in New England amongst all the change over the years has been rock solid offensive line play…they are the one team in the NFL who above all others have understood the importance of keeping your QB up right…they might not have the biggest or most athletic offensive lines but they have also had tough and smart players up front…we would need to continue to build the OL to help keep Fields up right to run McDaniels’ scheme…hopefully they will be big and athletic but we also need to make sure they understand their assignments and can adapt when needed…outside of that I would expect McDaniels to build his offence to us…I would expect us to see some of what he did with Cam Newton in the QB run game…I would expect him to use Monty, Herbert & potentially Williams out of the backfield in the passing game…I would hope Kmet would become more of a factor…he would use Mooney in the slot where his quickness would be at it’s best…probably find another similar WR or possibly another TE…the running game use a FB or H-TE as a blocker and run outside zone…basically get him the most talented guys and let him decide how to use them.

Conclusion

The concern with McDaniels is obvious…do I read a ton into what happened in Denver? No due to it being over 10 years ago and some of his decisions that were controversial at the time now seeming pretty justified…the 2018 incident of backing out of the Colts job is the one that concerns me to a point but again a lot of information changed for McDaniels from the Colts, Belichick & Kraft and you can only make decisions on the information you have…I also think listening to him and the people that really know him he has grown as a coach and as a leader…when you have guys like Belichick saying he learns from him and Brady calling him a brother you have to take that seriously…that is the two best to ever do it saying this guy is for real…I think it is clear McDaniels would be an excellent candidate to develop Fields and design and offence that suits him…can he handle coaching the full team even with the excellent coaching staff he should be able to assemble? That is the risk you take but IMO it could be one that is well worth it.

Anybody else smash their face on that wall of text?

[o-pus #40 in B major]

It's a explanatory article about McDaniels. Lots of interesting stuff that I wasn't aware of.

[The Marshall Plan]

It's a explanatory article about McDaniels. Lots of interesting stuff that I wasn't aware of.

Did you enter a time distortion while you were reading it? Almost like the movie Interstellar.

[UOK]

[The Cooler King]

What is causing the McDaniels nonsense?

He's an asshole. Why would you want that? There's a difference between a motivator or stern leader and an asshole.

Then he's from the Belichick Tree. The sheer amount of penis envy alone on the part of the McCaskey's will prevent that from happening.

For realistic candidates look towards the beta male coordinator crowd who has never had an HC job before.

Or if Pace gets fired too, then perhaps somebody like Ryan Day, but the more I think about the more I realize that Day would be a moron to come here.

No one will care he's an asshole if he's a great coach. Just a question if his assholishness is an impediment to that or not. From a base qualifications standpoint he ticks the boxes as much as any other current coordinator. If it weren't for the external factors that we're obviously well aware of he'd probably be at the top of the list of every HC opening.

[The Cooler King]

Bring back the T formation is the only logical conclusion.

[Atkins&Rebel]

What is causing the McDaniels nonsense?

He's an asshole. Why would you want that? There's a difference between a motivator or stern leader and an asshole.

Then he's from the Belichick Tree. The sheer amount of penis envy alone on the part of the McCaskey's will prevent that from happening.

For realistic candidates look towards the beta male coordinator crowd who has never had an HC job before.

Or if Pace gets fired too, then perhaps somebody like Ryan Day, but the more I think about the more I realize that Day would be a moron to come here.

Me personally...I'm sick of nice losers.

[The Marshall Plan]

What is causing the McDaniels nonsense?

He's an asshole. Why would you want that? There's a difference between a motivator or stern leader and an asshole.

Then he's from the Belichick Tree. The sheer amount of penis envy alone on the part of the McCaskey's will prevent that from happening.

For realistic candidates look towards the beta male coordinator crowd who has never had an HC job before.

Or if Pace gets fired too, then perhaps somebody like Ryan Day, but the more I think about the more I realize that Day would be a moron to come here.

Me personally...I'm sick of nice losers.

Me too.

But assholes kill the locker room and you wind up losing anyway.

[o-pus #40 in B major]

Me personally...I'm sick of nice losers.

Me too.

But assholes kill the locker room and you wind up losing anyway.

The Patriots locker room seems to be doing just fine going into the home stretch of a long season.

Do you really think Belichick would keep an asshole on his staff? I sure don't.

[The Marshall Plan]

Me too.

But assholes kill the locker room and you wind up losing anyway.

The Patriots locker room seems to be doing just fine going into the home stretch of a long season.

Do you really think Belichick would keep an asshole on his staff? I sure don't.

Do you really think anybody in that locker room would dare challenge Belichick and how he wants things handled?

When the leash was taken off McDaniels in Denver people saw what he really was.