Gasper: ‘Grossly underwhelmed’ by Alex Van Pelt hire
On Friday’s Felger & Mazz program, Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe joined the show to give his thoughts on the New England Patriots new offensive coordinator, Alex Van Pelt.
What Do You Think of Van Pelt Hire?
Gasper: I’m grossly underwhelmed. To borrow a phrase from the Cleveland dog pound, “Woof.”
I’m not that excited by this. You know, the Patriots did this sort of far-reaching search, and Alex Van Pelt was the guy. He’s fine. But he’s basically a “JAG” (Just a Guy) offensive coordinator. I guess there’s nothing wrong with him, but I hoped they would get somebody who could be dynamic.
I was hoping that maybe they’d follow the Tampa Bay Buccaneers model. They are going to bring Liam Cohen back into the NFL, reportedly. The Saints are waiting on Klint Kubiak, who works for Kyle Shanahan. And the Kubiak family has been integrally involved in the Shanahan offense for years going back to Kubiak’s father, Gary.
So I thought they would go for somebody with more growth potential, not an offensive coordinator in his 50s who wasn’t the primary playcaller. Van Pelt has been an offensive coordinator in multiple places. And really, when you look at Cleveland’s offense, does anyone think they had something special there?
Has anyone said, “You know what offense we really want to take a page out of? The Cleveland Browns offense. Do you know what offense is really dynamic? The Cleveland Browns offense. We want to do that. Do you know what no offense is going to win in the NFL? The Cleveland Browns offense.”
I mean, they were very good at running the football. They had an excellent offensive line. There were some pluses there. Don’t get me wrong. But I’m a little concerned that the identity of the Jerod Mayo Patriots will be all defense and running game. And I think we know enough that you won’t win a championship if that’s your identity.
Segment Audio
Ryan Beaton is a producer for 985thesportshub.com. You can follow Ryan at @ry_beaton on Twitter.
Listen to Felger and Mazz from 2-6 every Monday-Friday on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with hosts Mike Felger, Tony “Mazz” Massarotti, and Jim Murray “Big Jim”. You can listen live in the Sports Hub App and subscribe to their podcasts here. Follow @FelgerAndMazz on Twitter to keep up with the show!