New England Patriots, Mike Vrabel hire Josh McDaniels as offensive coordinator

New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel are hiring Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the Patriots are expected to hire McDaniels after interviewing with the team on Tuesday.

McDaniels is very familiar with the Patriots as he was the offensive coordinator for the franchise two different times. He was on the coaching staff when Vrabel played for the Patriots from 2001 to 2008.

In 2001, the Patriots hired McDaniels to be a personal assistant. He was promoted to defensive assistant in 2002 before becoming the team’s quarterbacks coach in 2004. After having that position for two seasons, McDaniels was promoted to offensive coordinator. He helped the Patriots have an undefeated regular season in 2007 and reach the Super Bowl that season.

After the 2008 season, the Denver Broncos hired McDaniels as the next head coach. The Broncos fired McDaniels during the 2010 season when the team was 3-9.

In 2011, Josh McDaniels became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the St. Louis Rams. That lasted for one season because he returned to the Patriots as their offensive coordinator. McDaniels was with the Patriots for 10 seasons and helped the team three Super Bowls.

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In 2022, McDaniels was hired by the Las Vegas Raiders as their head coach. However, the 48-year-old was fired during the 2023 season when the team was 3-5. In his first year, the Raiders registered a 6-11 record.

The hiring of McDaniels is a big move for Mike Vrabel who was hired to be the Patriots’ head coach on Jan. 12. Vrabel joins New England after being the head coach of the Tennessee Titans from 2018 to 2023. During his six seasons in Nashville, Vrabel posted a 54-45 record, led the Titans to three playoff appearances two AFC South titles and an appearance in the AFC Championship game in 2019.

“We want to put the best-talented coaches in front of our players,” Vrabel said during his introductory press conference. “When they stand in front of these players, I want the players to embrace what every coach is teaching. I will tell you this, as long as I’m the head coach here, our coaches will have three simple jobs — and they sound simple, and they’re probably not as simple as we want to make them be. They want to teach, they want to develop, and they want to inspire our players by making a connection. We’re going to make strong connections with our players so that we can coach them and we can push them.”