The New England Patriots have made several coaching staff moves since Mike Vrabel took over as head coach. However, at least one of those moves reportedly came at the hand of offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
According to the Boston Sports Journal’s Greg Bedard, McDaniels is believed to be behind the decision to hire Todd Downing as the Patriots’ new wide receivers coach.
Downing most recently coached with the New York Jets as their quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. He took over the offensive playcalling duties following Nathaniel Hackett being fired by the team.
“They went through extensive searches, specific to the wide receivers position, they talked to a lot of college receivers coaches,” Bedard said on the “Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast.” “But from what I understand, Vrabel was not going to force anybody on McDaniels. From what I understand, Vrabel wasn’t even involved in the Todd Downing interview.
“He wanted to make sure that if it was Todd Downing, that McDaniels really wanted him. From what I understand, that is true. McDaniels really wanted him, really liked him. McDaniels, he didn’t even need a former receivers coach. He just wanted a really good coach.”
There’s hope that McDaniels choosing the wide receivers coach will help with the overall cohesiveness of the offensive coaching in New England. The development and production at the wide receiver position have been a struggle for the team for years.
Perhaps they’ll get closer to fixing it with this latest coaching move.
