Patriots Rumors: Mike Vrabel Might’ve Preferred These Coaches Over Josh McDaniels

There’s really no reason to believe Josh McDaniels won’t succeed as Patriots offensive coordinator. After all, he excelled in the role in both of his previous two stints with New England.

That said, when the Patriots were looking to replace Alex Van Pelt earlier this offseason, McDaniels might not have been the unquestioned choice.

Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard on Monday shared a slew of new information about McDaniels’ return to New England, including details on past conversations with Mike Vrabel and work he put in after cutting ties with the Las Vegas Raiders. Perhaps the most noteworthy nugget in the column, however, was a report on other candidates who had similar levels of appeal to Vrabel.

“There’s some feeling that Vrabel would have preferred to work with either Arthur Smith or Tommy Rees before McDaniels, but that is partly incorrect,” Bedard wrote. “Sources close to Vrabel said his experience with the Titans, where he went through four inexperienced offensive coordinators — Matt LaFleur, Smith, Todd Downing and Tim Kelly — scarred him a bit, and McDaniels was probably higher on Vrabel’s list than most knew, if things worked out.”

One of the biggest perks of hiring McDaniels for the Patriots was security. Following disastrous head-coaching stints with the Raiders and Denver Broncos, McDaniels won’t be in the marking for a head-coaching gig any time soon — if ever again. Rees, meanwhile, appears to be a rising star in the coaching ranks and Smith probably deserves another shot after a three-year run with the Atlanta Falcons.

With McDaniels, who one of Bedard’s sources referred to as the “perfect” coordinator for Drake Maye, the Patriots added a highly experienced coach who could be with the franchise for the next decade-plus. And that’s a rare luxury in today’s NFL.