More Buzz About Josh McDaniels Potentially Joining Mike Vrabel’s Staff As OC

Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports said Saturday that Josh McDaniels is a name to watch to potentially join Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff should he get the Patriots’ job.

At this point, it appears Vrabel is the man to beat in New England and both he and McDaniels have extensive ties to the organization.

Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that “there is buzz” about McDaniels being a candidate to join Vrabel’s staff as offensive coordinator, so this isn’t the first we’ve heard about McDaniels resuming his role as Patriots’ offensive coordinator. 

McDaniels, 48, began his NFL coaching career with the Patriots as a personnel assistant back in 2001. He worked his way up to offensive coordinator in New England before he departed for the Broncos head-coaching job in 2009.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go very well for McDaniels with the Broncos and he was fired during his second year with the team. After a brief stint with the Rams as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, McDaniels returned to the Patriots and has been running their offense ever since.

McDaniels agreed to become the head coach of the Colts a few years ago before later backing out of the agreement to remain in New England. He also drew interest last in 2020 from the Browns, Panthers, and Giants, but elected to stay with the Patriots. He finally took a job with the Raiders in 2022. 

Las Vegas opted to fire McDaniels midseason. 

McDaniels led the Raiders to a record of 9-16 (36.0 percent).