Patriots Hire Former OC Josh McDaniels

The New England Patriots are bringing back Josh McDaniels to be their offensive coordinator.
Aug 19, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Aug 19, 2021; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
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The New England Patriots are continuing to turn back the clock.

After hiring Mike Vrabel to be their new head coach, the Patriots have now brought back another old friend, hiring Josh McDaniels to be their offensive coordinator, via Kirk Minihane of Barstool.

This will mark McDaniels' third stint as New England's offensive coordinator.

McDaniels first joined the Pats' staff as a personnel assistant in 2001 before eventually being elevated to quarterbacks coach in 2004. He was then named offensive coordinator in 2006.

The 48-year-old spent the next three seasons calling plays for Tom Brady's Patriots before ultimately accepting a job as Denver Broncos head coach. He didn't last a full two seasons in Denver, and then, in 2011, he took a position as St. Louis Rams offensive coordinator.

After spending just one year with the Rams, McDaniels returned to Foxborough to once again serve as New England's offensive coordinator in 2012. He held that post for the next decade before departing to become Las Vegas Raiders head coach in 2022.

Similar to his short stint with the Broncos, McDaniels didn't even make it through two seasons in Las Vegas, as the Raiders fired him midway through 2023.

Clearly, being a head coach is not McDaniels' forte, but there is no question that he has been a phenomenal offensive coordinator whenever he has been given the opportunity.

The Patriots are in desperate need of offensive assistance, as their offense has been among the league's worst for a couple of years.

While New England definitely needs to add more weapons for quarterback Drake Maye, McDaniels should also provide some significant help thanks to his offensive genius.

The Pats have gone just 4-13 in each of the last two campaigns. We'll see if McDaniels can help turn them around.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.