The concept of Fourthought, of course, is to sprinkle the proverbial infield. And so, this Wednesday, we give you some more focused items on Josh McDaniels, Jayson Tatum and Brad Marchand – and one bigger observation on the Red Sox.
We’ll start with McDaniels.
Just when you thought the Patriots were turning a new page and starting an entirely new era in their history, here comes McDaniels to ride the Ferris Wheel now stationed on Route 1, otherwise knows as the job of offensive coordinator; every few seconds, someone new comes through. In this case, someone new is actually some one old or, more specifically, someone familiar. In the last five years, the Patriots have now cycled though McDaniels (in then his second stint), Matt Patricia, Bill O’Brien (in his second stint), Alex Van Pelt and now, again, McDaniels (in his third stint). This isn’t any reflection on McDaniels so much at it is evidence that the decision makers in Foxboro are terrified (and unwilling?) to venture outside of their comfort zone, and that’s true whether we’re talking about Bill Belichick or Robert and Jonathan Kraft.
Seriously. Look at that list. The only outsider hired in that group was Van Pelt – and only after the Patriots went through 10-12 options, some of whom turned them down.
Does that mean McDaniels is a bad hire? No. But it does mean we can question the motives. Between them, Mac Jones and Drake Maye have now played four seasons in Foxboro and had four offensive coordinators in four years – five in five overall if you count Jones’ first season in Jacksonville. Of course, what happens to Jones is of little consequence to the Patriots fans anymore, but what is happening to Maye should give you pause.
Maye, after all, was drafted on April 25 of last year, less than nine months ago. Children have been both conceived and born in that window, and Maye – himself a relative infant – is already on his second head coach and second offensive coordinator. Nine months. The good news? As our colleague and contributor Greg Bedard has pointed out, McDaniels has every chance to be a long-term solution. But in the short term, is McDaniels going to change the offense back to the same system he ran under Tom Brady? Does that mean Maye has to start over again? Or will the opposite happen, McDaniels instead becoming the one to adapt to his new quarterback so that Maye’s experiences under Van Pelt be built upon and preserved?
In the end, here’s the point: as the NFL has developed and advanced in recent years, the Patriots have too often seemed interested in just getting back to where they were. Do you understand the difference? The league, like everything, is ever-involving. If and when the Patriots get back to whether they were in, say 2021, the league will be in 2025 , 2026, or 2027. Jayden Daniels is now the hottest thing in the league, a rookie quarterback with a 14-5 record and a place in the NFC Championship Game.
If this all sounds like an indictment of McDaniels, it really isn’t. It’s more of an indictment on what the Patriots have allowed themselves to deteriorate into, which is an operation that has frequently rivaled Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.