Super Bowl LX: How Josh McDaniels Revived Patriots’ Explosive Offense

Thomas Brown spent three seasons working alongside good friend Sean McVay with the Los Angeles Rams. So when he was hired as tight ends coach and passing game coordinator for the Patriots this season, Brown was looking forward to working with another great offensive mind. He certainly hasn’t been disappointed, getting an up-close look at how Josh McDaniels works his magic with second-year quarterback Drake Maye. “No. 1, he’s a great teacher and communicator,” Brown told me on Super Bowl Opening Night when I asked what makes McDaniels special. “But also, I think for any really good offensive coach or playcaller, it’s being able to adapt to the guys that you have around you, from a personnel standpoint and skill-wise. “Obviously, he spent a lot of time with Tom Brady. But with the other quarterbacks he’s had, he’s adapted his offense to fit best for those guys. It’s being able to understand those nuances. The verbiage is a little different. And some of the ways he approaches certain situations are a little different than what I’ve experienced in the past, which is also great to be able to add to what I already know. So, it’s been great to be a part of.” This is McDaniels’ third stint with the Patriots, returning to the place where he won six Super Bowls as an innovator on offense with Brady. On Sunday against the Seahawks, McDaniels will try for a seventh title. He was a great hire for Mike Vrabel, and in his first year back in New England, McDaniels has Maye playing at an MVP level, which is a big reason why the Patriots are back in the Super Bowl after a seven-year absence. It’s not surprising that Vrabel, in his first season as New England’s head coach, has leaned on McDaniels, who is coaching in his 10th Super Bowl as a Patriots assistant. At the suggestion of the OC, the team reportedly waited until this week to install several elements of their game plan for Sunday. “No one has more experience than Josh with this,” Vrabel told the media. “And he felt like we needed to do something to keep them engaged and stimulated, so they weren’t looking at some things for the second or third time.” McDaniels took a year off from coaching after being fired by the Las Vegas Raiders midway through the 2023 season — the second time he’s been let go as a head coach. During his year-long sabbatical, McDaniels said he spent time attending the practices of several pro and college teams — including the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, Boston College, Ohio State and USC — to observe some of the best coaches in the business. “[I watched] the way they structured their practices, how they talked to the quarterback,” McDaniels said. “What they did in team periods to scheme. There were little things I certainly picked up on that were great. “If you get an opportunity to go watch these guys work, it doesn’t take you very long to learn something that you can use and benefit from. I thought it was a great experience for me.” McDaniels has put those observations to good use working with Maye. The North Carolina product led the NFL in passer rating (113.5), finished third in passing touchdowns (31) and fourth in passing yards (4,394) during the regular season. Maye also led the league in completion percentage (72%) and yards per attempt (8.9). In his 13 seasons as New England’s offensive coordinator, McDaniels has led the Patriots to eight top 10 rankings over that time, including the league’s No. 1 ranked offense in 2007, 2012 and 2017. This season, the Patriots posted the No. 3 ranked offense in the NFL, averaging 28.8 points per game, second in the league. McDaniels said the key to Maye’s exponential growth was meeting the 23-year-old where he was and teaching him to be patient in his daily approach. “An important part of our process was where are we starting with Drake?” McDaniels said. “If we don’t know that, we’re probably going to make some mistakes early. So, to figure out where he was at the very beginning of our process was important for us because we knew where we were going to pick up and start from. “And then take it as far as we could. And we’re still doing that.” [RELATED: How Might a Super Bowl Win Impact Patriots QB Drake Maye’s Legacy?] New England backup quarterback Joshua Dobbs has learned from some of the best offensive minds in the game, including Kyle Shanahan, Kevin O’Connell and Kevin Stefanski. “It’s a lot on the quarterback, but in a good way,” Dobbs said at Opening Night. “The quarterback is the orchestrator of the offense. He has to understand what plays we’re running, why we’re running it, what were seeing from the defense and what are our solutions to the problems the defense might present to us. “[McDaniels] had one of the greatest signal-callers ever running it for a long time. He’s a great mind in the NFL and he does a great job of getting the most out of his players. And that’s shown in our play this year.” McDaniels’ adaptability and innovation are great, but what stands out to Patriots linebacker Robert Spillane, who played for McDaniels with the Raiders, is his ability to relate to the players he coaches. “His dedication to the game and love for people got him to be the great coach that he is today,” Spillane said at Opening Night. “You’ve got to be able to connect with people and relay a message. And he’s obviously able to do that well with his offensive players. “You can tell a person about X’s and O’s all day, but at the end of the day, it’s up to you to make that connection for them to really feel it and understand it at the highest level.” McDaniels’ ability to make that connection with Drake Maye has brought the Patriots to the brink of another title.