Patriots Refuse To Learn Lesson With Coaching Staff Decisions

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

Albert Einstein is often attributed with that quote, but the truth is that civil rights campaigner and feminist writer Rita Mae Brown is the real author of the phrase, attributing it to a fictional character in her 1983 book “Sudden Death.”

No, you aren’t currently reading an 11th-grade research paper. Yes, we did give you that relatively pointless history lesson for a reason.

The Patriots are acting insane.

New England made a relatively unpopular addition to the coaching staff Monday. Todd Downing was hired as receivers coach, according to Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard, and reportedly became the ninth staffer to be added by Mike Vrabel after previously working for him with the Tennessee Titans. John Streicher, Tony Dews, Terrell Williams, Ryan Cowden, Zak Kuhr, Clinton McMillan, Jason Houghtailing and Scott Booker are the others, but this one fits the purposes of our argument more than anyone else.

Downing hasn’t just failed in the majority of roles he’s held — making the decision to hire him was a head-scratcher in the first place — but he’s now going to be tasked with coaching wide receivers for the very first time.

The Patriots have made this a tradition of sorts, with the last five people hired for that role having zero prior experience. Tyler Hughes had never been anything more than a general offensive assistant at the professional level before his hiring in 2024. Ross Douglas literally coached on the other side of the ball for two years before being elevated into the role in 2023. Troy Brown played the position, but never coached it before 2022. Mick Lombardi had never coached any position before 2020. Joe Judge was a career special teams coach before having that job dumped on his plate in 2019.

Chad O’Shea was the last wide receivers coach, by trade, to be hired for the role, which he went on to hold for a freakin’ decade.

New England hasn’t put two and two together, though. Vrabel is following the same path as Jerod Mayo and Bill Belichick by just tasking someone familiar with the role, which is a major mistake considering that group is one of the biggest dumpster fires on a roster full of them.

Hughes couldn’t get through to the likes of Ja’Lynn Polk, Javon Baker, K.J. Osborn and Tyquan Thornton last season, with social media posts becoming a routine talking point for the group. New England eventually had to move on from the latter two, with the former duo serving as non-factors during their rookie season. DeMario Douglas, Kayshon Boutte and Kendrick Bourne didn’t have as disastrous a season as the others, but that whole “voicing my frustrations through the media or my social accounts” thing wasn’t a foreign concept to them, either.

Downing technically has worked with wideouts before, as his coordinating tenures required work with all groups on that side of the ball. A.J. Brown wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of his, however. Garrett Wilson isn’t loving the way things are going down in New York — though that franchise’s dysfunction stretches far beyond one coordinator.

Wes Welker would have been another guy who previously worked alongside Vrabel, but at least he’s actually coached the position before!

Vrabel’s decision to run things back with his former colleagues has many uneasy, and we’re not going to claim to feel any different. But there are great things to be said about a number of the additions.

Downing? Not so much.

The Patriots ultimately just did the same thing that they’ve already done time after time, so why should anyone expect a different result?