Legendary Patriots coach shares how Josh McDaniels can help Drake Maye improve

While New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft hit somewhat of a reset button when he replaced head coach Jerod Mayo with one-time Associated Press Coach of the Year Award winner Mike Vrabel in January, Vrabel bringing longtime offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels back to the organization to serve as the club's OC and work with quarterback Drake Maye could be the Patriots' most-important move of the offseason. 

Legendary offensive line coach and Patriots Hall of Famer Dante Scarnecchia got plenty of up-close looks as McDaniels helped Tom Brady become arguably the greatest quarterback in NFL history. Scarnecchia recently spoke with ESPN's Mike Reiss about how McDaniels could get the best out of Maye.

"Few quarterbacks could take the load on his shoulders the way [Brady] did, because he had been in the system so long, he was so smart and knew how to fix problems. We all appreciated that a great deal about him," Scarnecchia explained. "What Josh will do is get to know the quarterbacks he has in the room -- what does this guy do well, what doesn't he do well? He's not going to set limitations on them, but he'll adapt and try to get them to go to the highest point he can possibly get them to do to."

Former Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel previously made similar comments about McDaniels being willing to alter his scheme so Maye can improve as a dual-threat talent. Along with recording 15 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions over 13 games as a rookie, Maye also accumulated 421 rushing yards on 54 carries. Thus, it's likely McDaniels won't rely heavily on a drop-back style of play for the third overall pick of the 2024 NFL Draft as New England did when Brady guided the club to six Super Bowl titles. 

"[McDaniels will] be with the quarterback a big part of every game," Scarnecchia noted. "He's going to be there with him on the sideline, making sure they're seeing the game through one set of eyes, and that they're on the same page with everything. He'll coach fair and he'll coach hard, and he'll get the most out of him -- just like he's done with every quarterback he has coached since I've been around here. That's Tom [Brady], but there have been others. ...He's had a lot of different guys and they've all done pretty well. I think that speaks volumes for him -- as a quarterbacks coach and coordinator."

The perception exists that Vrabel is now running the show in New England, and it's worth mentioning he had nothing to do with the Patriots drafting Maye last year. Ideally, Maye will only take steps in the right direction working with McDaniels from springtime workouts through January 2026. If, however, the opposite occurs, Vrabel and Co. could find themselves having some difficult conversations at this time next year. 

"It's a great hire," Scarnecchia said about Kraft landing Vrabel. "I'm really happy they got him in there. He's a very, very smart guy and very demanding. His team is always prepared and plays hard. He doesn't ask any of them to do what he wouldn't have done as a player, which was a lot. I think he'll really get the most out of the team; that's the type of guy he is. It will be fun, it will be hard and he'll have high expectations of the players because he has high expectations for himself."