Third Time's Charm? McDaniels 'Top of List' For Patriots Job

Jerod Mayo's new coaching staff could turn to one of the most recurring faces in New England Patriots history.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

That concept could come to define the New England Patriots' coaching staff. The team finally opted to end Bill Belichick's near-quarter-century reign but familiar faces of both the confirmed and hypothetical variety continue to linger among Foxborough talking points.

Jerod Mayo, who worked among the Patriots linebackers as both a player and coach, is officially succeeding Belichick and filling his staff could yield more familiar faces such as Josh McDaniels. Appearing on Saturday's edition of "NFL GameDay" prior to the kickoff of Wild Card weekend action, insider Mike Garafolo hinted that a third McDaniels reign atop the New England offense is entirely possible, perhaps even likely as Mayo "goes about building his own Patriot Way."

"Bill O'Brien is currently under contract," Garafolo notes. "But if he and the Patriots go their separate ways, expect a familiar face, Josh McDaniels, to be at the top of the list for Jerod Mayo's next offensive coordinator."

Bringing back McDaniels would be deja vu all over again for the Patriots: the 47-year-old was around for each of the six championships won in the Belichick era, holding a variety of offensive roles in Foxborough between 2001 and 2021. That includes a decade-long stint as the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach shortly after his brief sojourn as the head coach of the Denver Broncos.

This time around, McDaniels is once again coming off a failed year-plus stint as the chief overseer of an AFC West team: McDaniels took over a playoff team from Las Vegas in 2022 but won only six games in the follow-up before lasting only eight weeks in this last go-around. With his career once again at a crossroads the Patriots' offense reeling from one of its ugliest seasons in recent memory, the door may be open to another reunion. 

Interest in McDaniels shows that New England (4-13) is looking to build off championship familiarity, one that partly manifests in the instant hiring of Mayo. If hired to succeed O'Brien, McDaniels certainly has his work cut out for him, but a third stop in New England could place him back among the head coaching ranks in no time. 

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The new offensive coordinator, be it McDaniels or otherwise, will be tasked with the presumed franchise quarterback the Patriots take with the third pick in the upcoming draft. He'll also have to make reliable weapons out of the plethora of third draft-day prospects, ones that showed flashes of potential over the recent dreary march to the finish once it became clear that the 2024 playoffs were a pipe dream. If New England management truly insists on not letting the so-called Patriot Way die out, there's no better name out there than McDaniels despite his shortcomings with the top headset on.

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