Josh McDaniels opens up on his year away from football

Josh McDaniels' return to the New England Patriots is also his return to the NFL. Following his firing from the Las Vegas Raiders, McDaniels spent the year away from the league, using the time to reflect on his career so far. "I think it was something you don't ever think about doing, but I would say it's a blessing to have the time to go back and look at what you've been through in terms of the changes and different highs, lows," McDaniels told the media during his press conference on Thursday. "You look back at the past in terms of what we've done schematically and what the league is doing now strategically. I had a really good opportunity last year to watch football without a lot of deadlines, which was a new, interesting opportunity for me and just see different things that were coming up throughout the course of the league. "It was just a really healthy opportunity for me to go back and look at what I've done, what I've been a part of, and then what else is going on in the league right now that I need to get better at, that I need to start thinking about incorporating," he continued. "College, pro, I had an opportunity to see for the very first time in my life somebody else run a meeting, somebody else run a practice, somebody else coach a quarterback, and those were invaluable opportunities for me. I know I'll be a different person in terms of going forward because of the experiences that I've had an opportunity to see." So, it seems that the hiatus from football could have been a productive way to gain a different perspective about the game. Of course, being fired is never ideal, but it may work in McDaniels' favor going forward. It's hard to say how the time away will benefit McDaniels and the Patriots on the field, but being removed from the game should have given him a chance to consider his mistakes, in order to avoid them going forward. Nonetheless, as the offseason will shortly begin to ramp up, the first order of business for the coordinator will be to get on the same page with Drake Maye and create a system that matches his skill set. McDaniels has a decently big job ahead of him. With all the new weapons on the New England offense, and all the high hopes with the team, he has to have a foolproof plan to improve this team in 2025. Maybe, the time away from the game helped him craft that plan. Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.