Bedard's EXCLUSIVE Intel on New Patriots Hires | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast - video Dailymotion

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Greg Bedard and Nick Cattles discuss the Patriots coaching staff as it nears completion, and Greg provides some new information on the hires being made and the process behind them. After he broke the story about Todd Downing being selected as the new wide receivers coach this morning, Greg elaborates that the process was all up to Josh McDaniels, as he's been given full authority by Vrabel to hire who he wants.  Next, he provides clarification on the relationship between Vrabel and McDaniels, and says that Robert Kraft had VERY LITTLE to do with Josh's hiring.  0:00 - Intro 1:17 - Todd Downing Hired 9:57 - PrizePicks 11:03 - Kraft, Vrabel, and McDaniels Update 19:13 - McDaniels Offense Preview 24:41 - Gametime 25:54 - Vrabel and McDaniels Progress 36:36 - Scarnecchia to Return on Informal Basis 42:30 - Offensive Staff Overview 49:09 - Matthew Slater Leaving   ************************************************ Patriots Content Brought to you by.... 💰 Prize Picks - https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/CLNS Download the app today and use Code CLNS at PrizePicks.com/CLNS & Get $50 instantly when you play $5!  🎫 Gametime - https://gametime.co Take the guesswork out of buying NFL tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Terms apply. What time is it? Gametime!  Merch Store - https://shop.clnsmedia.com  Social Media!!!! 🏈 Patriots Twitter- https://twitter.com/patriotsclns 🏈 Patriots Instagram-  https://www.instagram.com/patriotsclns/ 🔵 Facebook- https://facebook.com/clnsmedia 🔵 LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/clnsmedia/about/ 💟 Tik Tok - https://www.tiktok.com/@clnsmedia ********************************************************* 🏈 ABOUT PATRIOTS COVERAGE ON CLNS: 🏈  Welcome to the CLNS Media Network’s YouTube channel for New England Patriots 🏈 football.  CLNS Media is the leading online provider of audio/video coverage for the 6X Super Bowl Champions.  Get complete inside access to the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro and everywhere on the road. CLNS Patriots credentialed insiders Greg Bedard, Andrew Callahan, Tayler Kyles, John Zannis, Alex Barth and Mike Kadlick provide instantaneous news and analysis all in real time, as well as full access to complete videos from the players, coaches, ownership and everyone else inside Patriots Place.  If you enjoy CLNS’ Celtics 🍀 All Access and are craving more Boston sports content, you head over to CLNS’ Patriots 🏈 Press Pass at  🔴 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqX7G3pEDTseNxtoDU27PEg?sub_confirmations=1 🔴  __________________________________________________________________________ 🍀 For Celtics Content:  🔴  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1 🔴 🔴 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmp3kivpOg3lzoJC7yV7VjQ?sub_confirmations=1 🔴 🏀 🍀 Celtics Twitter - https://twitter.com/CelticsCLNS

Transcript

00:00This is the Greg the guard Patriots podcast with Nick Cavins, the big boy dropping a big

00:11time story at Boston sports journal.

00:14We'll get to all of the information that Greg has about this coaching staff, Mike Vrabel,

00:19Josh McDaniel's working relationship.

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00:49Bedard for 10% off your next service could save you up to $1,000 all right, Greg, before

00:57we get to any bigger picture stuff, cause we have a lot to discuss on today's podcast.

01:02So much so that we decided to record it a day early.

01:05Greg texts me last night.

01:06He said, we might want to roll on Monday versus Tuesday.

01:09I've got something coming out tomorrow.

01:11So here we are on Monday because there's just a ton of stuff from you in this column.

01:16But let me start with the, with the granular thing first, because I know a lot of people

01:20have been asking the question about why receivers coach Greg, you reported today.

01:25You broke this story.

01:26Uh, Todd Downing is the new wide receivers coach in a vacuum, in a vacuum before we get

01:32to the bigger picture stuff, your thoughts on Downing being the guy.

01:36So, um, I guess, where would I start?

01:40I mean, look, uh, I'm, I'm, I'm not going to sort of deviate where I was last week.

01:46I mean, from I've since done a lot of reporting since last time we spoke, especially since,

01:53you know, Felger and Mads, whether it was, I had pieces at the senior bowl, but not enough

01:56to go off of my opinion, a lot more reporting, uh, this weekend, but, you know, on the face

02:04of it, the Todd Downing hiring, uh, you know, you don't love from Josh McDaniel's perspective

02:11because it's yet another Mike Vrabel guy on the offense.

02:15And now we're up to four Vrabel type guys have been around Vrabel at least a little

02:20bit, um, it to zero with Josh McDaniel's, but let's set that aside for a second and,

02:27and deal with, you know, from what I understand about Todd Downing, um, he, he has a really

02:35good reputation around the league.

02:37He's done a lot of different things.

02:38He's been a quarterback's coach with the league, whether that's the lions, the bills, the Raiders,

02:43he was the Raiders offensive coordinator, tight ends coach, you know, offensive coordinator

02:48for Vrabel for two seasons.

02:49He was fired by Vrabel, um, after his second season, uh, it was with the jets this past

02:55year as the past game coordinator, uh, and, and our past two years, um, quarterbacks coach

03:03as well.

03:04Um, you know, from what I know about the process and this sort of is the way it went at all

03:10the positions, they went through extensive searches, um, specific to the wide receiver

03:16position.

03:17There were a lot of, uh, a lot of college receivers coaches.

03:22Um, but from what I understand, Vrabel was not going to force anybody on McDaniel's.

03:31Uh, I, from what I understand, Vrabel wasn't even in, uh, involved in the Todd Downing

03:37interview.

03:39And so he wanted to make sure that if it was Todd Downing, that McDaniel's really wanted

03:46him.

03:47From what I understand, that is, that is true.

03:50McDaniel's really wanted him, really liked him.

03:53From what I understand, McDaniel's, he, he didn't even need a, he didn't even need a

03:59former receivers coach.

04:01He just needed, he just wanted a really good coach.

04:04I think it's a, it's a bonus that, uh, that Todd Downing along with Thomas Brown can help

04:11in game planning.

04:12So I think that, I think that McDaniel's, uh, really likes this hire.

04:17I mean, even if you look at the wide receivers coaches that, that McDaniel's has had success

04:22with, like who was Chad O'Shea, who was Mick Lombardi before they were under McDaniel's

04:27and, and McDaniel's is going to be heavily involved in a lot of the positions, uh, on

04:32this offense, specifically wide receivers.

04:34He's, he's one of these guys we've talked about in the past about like, you know, the,

04:39the coordinator has to coach the coaches and the head coach has to coach the coordinators.

04:43And now with Josh McDaniel's and all his vast experience, they have a guy who's going to

04:48do that.

04:49So the bottom line is Todd Downing is known as a really good coach, uh, and the Patriots

04:55are excited to get them.

04:56Yeah.

04:57A few things.

04:58I think number one, this would certainly, uh, tell us that Mike Vrabel has learned from

05:05some of the missteps in his past and, and, and maybe he's, you know, the fact that McDaniel's

05:11was brought into this situation and given this latitude to really pick his staff and

05:17go through these interviews and go through the process, especially the tidbit that you

05:21have that Vrabel was not even included in the Todd Downing interview, I think does speak

05:26volumes to Vrabel's ability to allow Josh to have a heavy hand on that side of the football,

05:33which is what all of us had hoped.

05:36And you know, I think it also shows that Vrabel understands, look, Josh knows what he's doing.

05:44I don't need to micromanage that side.

05:46I don't need to be, you know, lurking over the shoulder at all times.

05:50It's not going to be, you know, early bill Belichick, Josh, it's going to be more late

05:54bill Belichick and Josh, which was Belichick.

05:57Let Josh do what he had to do and didn't get in the way.

06:00And I feel like that is where we're headed, which is, which is very good.

06:04I would also say that, you know, as I said last week on the podcast, I'm a big fan.

06:09And I, and I know that sometimes, and Bert talked about this, about the two alphas, right?

06:14The Vrabel and McDaniel's are two alphas.

06:16The first step to me of proving that these two guys can work together is the hiring process

06:23and how much latitude Vrabel would give Josh.

06:26And so I think they're off to a very good start as far as, are these guys going to be

06:30two Rams in the facility banging each other's heads?

06:34It doesn't seem that way.

06:35And Greg, we'll talk more about that coming up in a minute.

06:38But I do like the idea of, and I said it last week, just get the best guys.

06:43And I know sometimes it doesn't always work, but if you can find the best, if you can find

06:47the brightest and you can find a way to work together, now you've built kind of this to

06:52steal Bert's word, like an alpha staff.

06:56And to go with what Greg said about how much McDaniel's will be teaching these positions

07:01as well, James White, I, you know, he went on a media tour last week.

07:06I think he, I think he was on almost every single podcast aside from this one in my,

07:10my solo one.

07:12But James has said a lot like about Josh knowing everything.

07:17And he, he knows, I was watching James with Phil Perry yesterday and James said, look,

07:24it's amazing.

07:25He'll run a play at practice and something will go wrong and Josh immediately will know

07:30what went wrong.

07:31And it doesn't matter if it's the offensive line, the running backs, the receivers, the

07:34tight ends, the quarterback, he can, he has this kind of weird ability to kind of soak

07:39it all in play by play and be able to just break it down and go, okay, left guard screwed

07:45up or okay.

07:46Running back didn't do it.

07:47And so yeah, Josh knows a lot about offense and you bring Todd Downing in, he can work

07:53with Downing on some of the intricacies as far as wide receivers coach in that vacuum.

07:58Let me ask you this, any shot, Greg at an assistant wide receivers coach, like many

08:02other operations have, and is there a shot that that assistant could be a former player?

08:09Let's just throw it out there.

08:10And I know people might ask, what about Wes Welker?

08:12Could he be on this staff as an assistant?

08:16I mean, it's possible.

08:17I think Wes is a little bit beyond that at this point.

08:20Um, you know, he's graduated from that to being like a full fledged wide receivers coach.

08:25His name was not brought up to me, but yeah, I, I, I wouldn't be surprised if they get

08:30some sort of, you know, young receivers coach, uh, to bring in, to be under, uh, Downing

08:39and McDaniels, but, um, I have not heard Walker's name.

08:42Yeah.

08:43Mike Reese did report over the weekend that Welker was at least considered.

08:47Now we can play a lot with that word.

08:51Was he, uh, seriously considered or was he, you know, uh, we talked to him for a little

08:56bit and you know, he was, he was on the list of 50.

08:59We don't know.

09:00All right.

09:01Before we get to that.

09:02One thing real quick, you know what you were talking about with McDaniels, like, um, the

09:08people who know him, who've been around Josh, I mean, they, if people don't know already,

09:13they think he's just brilliant.

09:14And, and you know, the, the story you just told via James White, um, perfectly illustrates

09:19that.

09:21I remember that.

09:22I, I think it was when Josh was in the mix for the Eagles job at one point, um, you know,

09:27he told somebody there with the Eagles, he's like, in terms of seeing the game, um, in

09:34all different facets, uh, there it's only Nick Saban and Josh McDaniels that bill Belichick

09:39has ever been around that are that smart, that know the game that well can basically

09:43coach every single position.

09:45It's just those two.

09:46So that just goes to speak to that.

09:48All right.

09:49Before we get to a bigger things, before we get to the Vrabel, McDaniels, Robert crafts

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11:03All right.

11:04Uh, on the bigger things here, Mike Vrabel, Josh McDaniels, Robert craft.

11:09We talked about this last week about a possible arranged marriage.

11:12Uh, I've pushed back on this, uh, over the last several days, uh, it's been all over

11:19the place.

11:20Uh, you know, multiple radio shows have talked about it.

11:22It's found its way into social media.

11:24Um, I have not once thought that, that this was some kind of arranged marriage.

11:29And I described why I thought that, you know, last week on our podcast as to kind of what

11:35my thought process was.

11:36But, uh, since we did the last pod, Greg, as you said, you've talked to a lot of people,

11:41you've done a lot of reporting.

11:42Uh, what have you learned as far as Vrabel say, hiring McDaniels and whether or not ownership

11:48was involved?

11:50So as far as the ownership annual, uh, angle, I guess, sorry.

11:54Uh, as far as the ownership angle, uh, that was uniformly shot down to me.

11:59Um, in that one of my conversations was the name craft owners, anything brought up to

12:07me.

12:08Now, you know, we all know the crafts think a lot of Josh.

12:11Um, they know that he's done good work here, but that has not come up, you know, doing

12:14a little bit more probing as far as the relationship between Vrabel and McDaniels.

12:20Uh, I was told from multiple sources that they, they talked multiple times over the

12:25course of this last season, you know, nothing specific, like they couldn't really dial anything

12:31down.

12:32Like, Hey, if I go to X, Y, or Z, like I want you with me.

12:38I think mostly because they, they didn't know what the landscape was going to be at the

12:41end of the day.

12:42I don't, I don't think for a long time, probably right up until Mayo was fired.

12:48I don't think either of them thought that new England was a legit possibility.

12:52And with McDaniels there's, you know, he's at the point of his career.

12:58He's got another three years left that the Raiders are paying them on a very hefty contract.

13:03Um, he, there's a lot of family considerations for him.

13:08Like, you know, he, he was going to be in the mix for between five and seven sort of

13:13offensive coordinator openings around the league.

13:17And uh, you know, I, they just didn't know how things were going to shake out.

13:23I mean, I think, I think if you ask McDaniels and I'm sure, you know, when he talks to the

13:27media, I'm sure he's going to, you know, be very thankful and appreciative that it worked

13:32out the way that he did because he still lives locally.

13:35Um, you know, his kids are in school here, you know, all that stuff.

13:38Um, but Vrabel as far as, you know, there's also been a lot of talk about like, you know,

13:44if Rabel went to Chicago, would McDaniels have been his offensive coordinator?

13:50From what I understand, the answer is yes.

13:53Um, I think Arthur Smith was number one on Mike's list, but that wasn't really reality.

13:59He's under contract with the Steelers.

14:01Unless things went really South for Arthur with the Steelers, you know, he was going

14:06to be there.

14:07There was no way for Vrabel to get them.

14:08I, the Tommy Reese name did not really come up.

14:11I mean, I think Vrabel thinks a lot of him would have loved to have had him, you know,

14:17possibly as like a QBs coach, you know, but I think, I think McDaniels has always sort

14:22of been the guy for Vrabel from what I understand from talking to people.

14:25And I think the reasons for that was, I think Vrabel given the year off and having time

14:32to go over things and how things went in Tennessee, I think he was pretty scarred by, you know,

14:37what happened to him with the offensive coordinator position, whether it was Matt LaFleur for

14:41a year, Arthur Smith for two, then, you know, they both get head coaching jobs, then it's

14:45Todd Downing for two years.

14:46That didn't work out.

14:47Tim Kelly is, is promoted.

14:50That doesn't work out.

14:51They all get fired in Tennessee.

14:53I think, I think Mike, given the year off and contemplating things, I think he made

14:59it much more of a priority about stability and that somebody was going to be there multiple

15:05years.

15:06And I think we all can see that that's probably the case with Josh McDaniels.

15:10But also the QB development has been huge about Josh's history, his unquestioned resume,

15:20like, you know, all of it just came together to the point where I think it was obvious

15:25to Vrabel that if he was going to get another opportunity that a guy like Josh McDaniels,

15:30I don't know if it would have been Josh at the end of the day.

15:32I do think he was, he was very high in his list, but having a guy like Josh McDaniels

15:36on that side of the ball was very, very appealing to Mike Vrabel.

15:41I'm not always right, but this one aged like fine wine.

15:43I would say so myself.

15:45I just looked at it and I never believed that Robert Kraft would sit down in front

15:51of Mike Vrabel and say, Mike, you're hiring Josh McDaniels.

15:54I never thought that would ever be uttered by Robert Kraft.

15:59Robert has not meddled a ton, right?

16:02And I think people look back at the Bill O'Brien, Belichick thing.

16:05I think that was such a ridiculous situation with Matt Patricia and Joe Judge that Kraft

16:11stepped in and said, what the hell are we doing?

16:14We've got to get somebody in here that actually has run an offense before.

16:17I thought that was extenuating circumstances.

16:20I think the Tom Brady, Garoppolo stuff, extenuating circumstances, you're talking about the greatest

16:24quarterback of all time.

16:27Robert Kraft will pick his spots when he feels like it's absolutely necessary to step in

16:31and say, no, we've got to go a different direction or we have to choose between this and this.

16:37Okay.

16:38He has never been a Jerry Jones.

16:39He has never been any of these other guys like Tepper and Carolina's first few years.

16:44Who's just constantly in the weeds, constantly wanting to get involved.

16:49People will always look at Jonathan.

16:50I don't know how many times we'll hear from people who have reported this stuff and they've

16:56been right before.

16:57I can look at Bert Breer who in mid-December, again, I pointed out last podcast said that

17:02McDaniels was right there as far as guys that Vrabel would bring with him to Chicago to

17:08run that offense.

17:10He said that in the middle of December, well before Mayo was gone.

17:14And Bert has also said like, we have no information that Jonathan Kraft is constantly meddling

17:20that has been put out there.

17:22It is a narrative that has zero base to it.

17:25It's an opinion.

17:26It's an opinion.

17:27And so, uh, as, as our guy fell, you would say your guy fell.

17:31You would say fact, not opinion.

17:33That is opinion, not a fact.

17:35And so I'm not surprised by this.

17:36Mike Vrabel had all the leverage in the world.

17:38He walked into that room as the bell of the ball.

17:42And if he didn't get things his way, he could have said easily to Kraft, I'm going to Chicago

17:46or I'm going here or I'm going there.

17:49Because as we heard that was reported out, teams circled back with Mike until this became

17:54officially official in new England.

17:55And they were still interested in Mike Vrabel.

17:58If it wasn't Ben Johnson, it was Mike Vrabel at the top of the list.

18:01So I just, with all of that leverage, I just don't think Vrabel, Greg, you met Vrabel

18:07at the senior bowl week practices.

18:08Like there's nothing about Mike Vrabel that would tell you that he would acquiesce and

18:12be like, okay, I'm going to let you guys tell me who should run one half, you know, the

18:17offensive side of the football.

18:19I just, like, I just, Vrabel's not, and it also, and it also doesn't make a whole lot

18:24of sense in terms of, well, you know, let's just say like, uh, the crafts, you know, pressed

18:33a little bit further down on McDaniel's and, and Vrabel was like, you know, okay, but it

18:37doesn't make sense from the point, like, all right, say he just did it for a year to see

18:41how it works.

18:43Like you're going to change up again on Drake May, like that just doesn't make any sense,

18:49you know, whatsoever.

18:50Um, but you know, what's interesting about, you know, the staffing around him and look,

18:56I will say this, you know, all the people that I talked to for the story, uh, they're

19:02all very positive about how the staffing is gone, you know, in everything.

19:08And, uh, hold on, I don't want you to get into the bigger staff.

19:12Can we hold on to that for a minute before we get to that?

19:15I wanted to actually get to what you wrote about McDaniel's since we're talking about,

19:20you know, him getting the job and Vrabel landed on him.

19:25I thought you had a lot of good information, Greg, you and I have kind of hypothesized

19:29and we've talked about what would this offense look like and how much of the West coast stuff

19:33would, would Josh try to meld with, with his, you know, older system and, and how are these

19:39new coaches going to help that all?

19:42I just kind of want to highlight that part of it before we get to the bigger picture

19:45of the offensive staff.

19:46What are you hearing about McDaniel's the scheme and a possible evolution of that scheme?

19:52So it's definitely going to be the Josh McDaniel system.

19:54It's going to be his terminology.

19:55It's going to be all that, um, you know, what you'll hear talking to people who know

20:01Josh who have been in contact with him during his sort of year off is, um, they basically

20:09say like, I don't think you can comprehend the amount of work that Josh has put in, in

20:15this past year.

20:16I mean, he's been a bunch of places, including the chiefs.

20:19He spent time with the chiefs.

20:21He spent a lot of time in college football.

20:22I think he spent time with the Rams, the, uh, the Browns, I would imagine, uh, you know,

20:29I'm sure it's going to come out at some point, all the various places he's been and all the

20:32people he's talked to.

20:34But everybody's like, wait till you see it.

20:38Like there's going to be a lot of, you know, the bare bones of it.

20:40And normally the way Josh operates is, you know, they start very basic and then they

20:45start moving.

20:46But, uh, one person was basically like over the moon about like, you know, wait to have

20:53your doors blown off about what you're going to see from McDaniel's in terms of, uh, you

20:58know, and here's a quote from, from one person, people don't understand how much work Josh

21:02did last season, all the places he went, how much he studied.

21:05He's added tinkered with mobile quarterback space, movement, plays, motions, and all kinds

21:09of shit.

21:10Add in the new viewpoints on the staff, you know, guys like, uh, you know, Thomas Brown,

21:15uh, Todd Downing, Tony Dews, um, this has the potential to be really cool.

21:21Like people are, uh, they said basically be prepared to be a little bit shocked.

21:26Now, you know, you knowing me, I'm a natural born cynic, so I'm not going to go over the

21:33top about it quite yet until I see it.

21:37But, um, that's what multiple people are telling me that he's really, he's evolved.

21:41You're going to see a sort of an evolution of the Patriots offense.

21:45And what's interesting, uh, is that, you know, when they went from Charlie Weiss, so Charlie

21:51Weiss is Patriots playbook was like this when, by the time McDaniel's was done with it in

21:56the first iteration, it was like this.

21:59And you know, just for the people that are listening and can't see Greg's fingers, his

22:03index and his thumb were separated by about a half an inch with Charlie Weiss's playbook.

22:10And let's say it was about two and a half to three inches, uh, separation with the late

22:15last iteration, just so people can kind of, you know, see that visualized, uh, visualization.

22:21Yeah.

22:22So, um, yeah.

22:24So it's gonna, it's gonna be, it's gonna be McDaniel's offense.

22:28It's going to be his terminology.

22:30Nobody cares in the building about what quote unquote regression Drake may might have because

22:37they know he's the Drake may super smart from what I understand.

22:40He's very excited about this.

22:42Uh, he and McDaniel's have already talked multiple times due to league rules.

22:46They cannot talk about football.

22:47Um, I can tell you the staff, it has been in the building a crap ton because all these

22:54guys, most of them, if they have families, like their families aren't moving until like

22:59the school year's over, they're not going to pull their kids out right now.

23:02So they're all staying in the hotel.

23:04That means they have nothing to do.

23:07So they're in there morning to night, like just doing crap and getting everybody up to

23:13speed.

23:14And so, uh, there's a lot of excitement about what's going on.

23:17And I do think multiple people told me, like, they think Josh has been really energized

23:22by the time off, uh, and also the new people that are around him.

23:27We'll get to those new people.

23:28And Josh lost, uh, a good amount of LBs, the, the, the, uh, the video I saw on, on YouTube

23:34from the Patriots.

23:35So it looks like he's kind of, as you said, all refreshed physically, mentally, and ready

23:39to go.

23:40And, you know, it's all about self scouting.

23:42If you truly care about what you do, if you want to improve, if you want to evolve, like

23:47I think a lot of people think about Josh and it's, he's an older guy.

23:51He's not an older, he's not even 50 yet.

23:53He's like 48.

23:54It's just, he started so young with Belichick that people kind of just picture him as like

23:59mid fifties heading towards 60.

24:02If he wants to get better at what he does and he loves the game of football, which he

24:05obviously does, he's a smart guy.

24:09He's he's looking at all of these offenses doing different things.

24:12Do you think it didn't Dawn on him?

24:13Like, okay, we didn't run a lot of motion in Vegas.

24:17All these teams are now running a shit ton of motion.

24:19I probably want to learn more about motion.

24:22It's if you're willing to self-scout, put the work in and take it seriously, which Josh

24:27does.

24:28Um, it doesn't surprise me that he took the year off from football to go around and learn

24:33from different coaches in different places to try to say, okay, how can I improve and

24:37what can I add to this offense?

24:38All right, before we get to the makeup of the staff, Greg, tell the fine people about

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25:54time today.

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25:57Let's talk about the staff.

25:58Now, uh, the makeup of the staff.

25:59I want to start here before we go through the staff, Greg, how has the McDaniels Vrabel

26:05partnership worked here in new England since McDaniels officially became the OC?

26:10Yeah, they have been in complete in total lockstep on all this, all the, every single

26:17position.

26:18There's been extensive amount of interviews.

26:22Um, they've, they've done it either separately or together, but they are in lockstep.

26:29This is in really Vrabel is deferring to McDaniels to be like, you know, is this the guy you

26:35want?

26:36You know, they, they've seen eye to eye, uh, on everything.

26:39I think, you know, Thomas Brown, the former bears and parent Panthers offensive coordinator

26:46was the interim head coach of the bears last year, which was kind of a surprising hire.

26:50I think for the Patriots, but you know, he's one example of that.

26:56You know, from what I understand, the Patriots were blown away by him during the interview

27:00process and, and they were just like, you know, I don't know where this guy is, how

27:06he fits in, but we need him because he's that good.

27:10He's that smart.

27:11Uh, he could definitely help with game planning and things like that.

27:17Um, so it, from what I understand, this is from multiple people, league sources, team

27:22sources.

27:23This has absolutely been a joint venture by Vrabel and McDaniels and absolutely everybody

27:31has said Vrabel is not hiring anybody on the staff that Josh is not comfortable with.

27:37And, um, it was surprising for me to hear, but everybody is extremely positive about

27:45the staff they've ended up with.

27:47I mean, Doug Morone is a guy who, you know, maybe you can question a little bit, but you

27:54know, Doug Morone is a guy who, you know, he's, he's got a ton of experience.

27:58He's been in multiple systems, you know, that's appealing.

28:02Uh, you know, and so that's what they really wanted.

28:06They really wanted really, really good coaches at the end of the day.

28:11And they're, they're, they're beyond excited about these guys.

28:14I mean, even a guy like Ashton Grant, he sort of falls in precisely and he might be the

28:19best of the bunch.

28:20You know, Josh in his history has always sort of, cause he runs that room and he's coaching

28:26the quarterback, but he's always had a guy there.

28:29He's always wanted an apprentice type of guy, whether that's Bo Hardigree, Jerry Sheplinski,

28:35guys like that who are super smart, work really hard, can keep up and, uh, and really

28:44just soak everything up to, you know, gain experience and do more and more as the years

28:48go on.

28:49And, and Ashton Grant, they might've gotten the best of the bunch that Josh has ever had.

28:54So they, they are, they're, they're super excited about where they've come out on the

28:58staff.

28:59Here's what Greg wrote to fill out the staff.

29:01Rabel McDaniels worked in lockstep, as he just mentioned on interviews.

29:04Some of the positions involved extensive searches, multiple interviews, both agreed

29:08on all the hires.

29:09And they set out to find the best and brightest, uh, love it.

29:13Love that approach.

29:14Don't know if it's all going to work out, if everybody's going to be a unbelievable

29:18success here.

29:19But again, I just love, I love the philosophy.

29:22I love the thought of let's just go out and get the best guys that we can get.

29:26Well, let's try to build this staff from the young guys like Grant that, that, uh, Greg

29:31just mentioned.

29:32We've also got Larkin thrown in there from Ohio state, and then let's bring in some other

29:35guys.

29:36And as I mentioned, you know, Thomas Brown, I said this last week on the podcast, I don't

29:40think it's crazy to believe that, you know, McDaniels who is friendly with McVeigh got

29:44some good information on Brown as well as apparently according to Greg Brown, killing

29:48the interview process and McDaniels said, all right, like McVeigh felt good enough.

29:53I've said this from the beginning about the Thomas Brown thing, whoever talks about Sean

29:59McVeigh in glowing terms, and it's pretty much all of us because the guy's just a great

30:03head coach.

30:04He really is.

30:05If, if he names you the assistant head coach, like he did for Thomas Brown, I'm going to

30:11believe that Thomas Brown is pretty damn good and pretty damn smart.

30:14Cause if makes it, if McVeigh said that guy's my right-hand man, I'll take it.

30:18He might be wrong.

30:20He might be brutally wrong at the end of the day.

30:22But if Sean McVeigh said, I want that guy to be, you know, on my right side here and

30:27be my assistant head coach.

30:30That speaks volumes of how smart Thomas Brown is and how good of a coach Sean McVeigh thinks

30:35he is.

30:36And if Sean, not only that coach, then I think he's a good coach.

30:38Yeah.

30:39Not only that, but you know, Thomas Brown, it took him one year to go from running backs

30:43coach to assistant head coach slash running backs one, one year, he had been in college

30:48ball before that.

30:49So that should tell you, you know, how good he is.

30:52I also wanted to point out that, you know, Jason Huff tolling, who's coming along as

30:57the assistant offensive line coach, who was Brable's final offensive line coach in Tennessee.

31:04You know, I kept bringing up the point to the people that I talked to be like, you know,

31:08you know, what the hell with all these Vrabel people, like, you know, aren't there other

31:12people out there?

31:13And you know, one person, I actually, a couple of people said to me, they're like, you know,

31:19they all had some really good coaches on that staff.

31:22Some of them, you know, because of what went down in Tennessee, maybe they got a little

31:26bit of front over their skis in terms of their development.

31:30And Huff tolling must have, might've been one of those guys because, um, uh, the guy,

31:36I forget he was just, he just got hired, but the guy before him, um, yeah, he, he got,

31:43he got fired and Huff tolling kind of got promoted probably wasn't, you know, the best

31:46thing for him.

31:47But I think that, you know, all these Vrabel guys, I mean, look, they had a good coaching

31:51staff.

31:52I mean, I don't think, you know, the, uh, they, they, they ran into issues with offensive

31:56coordinator and offensive line, but I think, you know, in general, um, everyone's been

32:01pretty impressed about the coaches that Vrabel had and, and, and instructed in Tennessee.

32:08Not Clark Carter, Keith Carter, I think was the guy you were, you were thinking of.

32:12And I would also point out again, this is not to excuse everything, but let's be honest

32:15that offensive line, they lost their two best offensive lineman.

32:19So, you know, Ben Jones, who is like beloved by Vrabel and respected as the, one of the

32:24smartest players he's ever coached.

32:27He was done because of injury.

32:29Mike told them that, you know, it's time to, to hang them up.

32:32And then Taylor Lujan got hurt and he retired.

32:34So two of your best offensive lineman fell off the face of the earth.

32:38It's not always easy to replace those guys.

32:39They tried to replace them through the draft and that was a huge swing and a miss.

32:43So, um, you know, there, there were some circumstances that, that impacted the coaching

32:50and yes, you can coach and try to get the best out of your players as Greg and I have

32:53talked about, but the, the decline of offensive line play in Tennessee wasn't just coaching.

32:58It wasn't just, oh, well, you know, they took over the same offensive line and things went

33:02terrible.

33:03They had some things going on there as well.

33:05Um, and I would say this was brought up by, uh, by Greg as well in his, in his column.

33:12We also can't overlook.

33:13And I mentioned this last week in the podcast about, oh, well, how about you go out and

33:17get this guy?

33:18How about you go out in that and get that guy?

33:20The first question you've got to ask yourself is, does that guy have a job right now?

33:23And so, you know, Chad, Chad O'Shea might've been a great choice.

33:27Chad O'Shea is currently employed by the Cleveland Browns.

33:31Uh, you know, you can look at all these other guys around the league that there's a couple

33:35of them in San Francisco now that, that Josh brought up and those guys have jobs.

33:43You can't hire somebody for a lateral move.

33:46If you go out and you, and you get somebody, you've got to give that person a promotion

33:52and it's not really easy.

33:53You pretty much have to tag the coordinator title to give that person the promotion.

33:57So like, we'll get into it in a minute, but Tony Dews is your running backs coach.

34:04If Tony Dews is going to be along with Doug Morone or whatever, figuring out the run game,

34:08you know, and they're, you know, they're technically run game coordinator.

34:12Then you're not going to go out and hire somebody and be like, all right, we're going to bring

34:15in Cole Popovich.

34:17And that's a separate story because of COVID, but we're going to go out and get Cam Brasilio's

34:20better right in New York.

34:21We're going to go get Cam.

34:23We're going to bring them down here to new England.

34:24Well, if you were going to do that, you have to bring him in and put up a coordinator tag

34:28with him.

34:29So now you're, now you're impacting other people's roles that you already have figured

34:33out.

34:35It's not just easy to go out there and just pluck somebody from a staff and go, he's now

34:39a part of our staff.

34:40Correct, Greg.

34:41Yeah.

34:42And, you know, as somebody pointed out to me, like, you know, it's a good and a bad

34:44thing for the Patriots.

34:45I mean, it's bad because yeah.

34:47Do I think Josh would have liked Chad shadow Shea or Carm Brasilo or, you know, whoever

34:53to come with him?

34:54Yeah, sure.

34:55I think it'd make things a little bit easier, but it's also a credit to McDaniels and bill

35:00Belichick that they coach these guys to the point where they're good coaches and they're

35:06really valuable to these places and they don't want to let them go.

35:09So it's a, it's a double-edged sword, but I do think that that was impressed upon me

35:14that really the reason why this Josh doesn't have any people around him is like the people

35:22that he would want, they're just not available.

35:25And so they had to make, uh, they had to make other sort of, they had to forge another

35:30path, but trust me when I tell you this, that, um, Josh is undeterred about that and like,

35:37you know, he's, he's just fine where they are.

35:39All right.

35:40We're going to look through the offensive staff and maybe a name returning somewhat

35:44to the staff.

35:45And I know a lot of people, I tweeted this out earlier today, a lot of people fired up

35:49about this name.

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36:13today.

36:14All right, before we get into the offensive staff, uh, piece by piece, because I want

36:19to first throw in another name that could be somewhat in the mix here.

36:26I don't want to overblow this.

36:28I don't want to go to bananas, Greg, but Greg Bidard wrote a name in his column today that

36:34got people very excited.

36:36And that name is Dante Skarnakia.

36:38Yeah, you're right.

36:40I don't want to oversell this and I don't want people to go nuts.

36:44Um, cause I could tell you, you know, probably scar would, um, ring my neck and, uh, bitch

36:50me out.

36:51Like I was one of his linemen, uh, you know, love that guy.

36:54Um, you know, I, three different sources mentioned his name to me about being around more.

37:01One was, one was stronger to sort of really downplayed it, uh, as far as how much he's

37:07going to be available and how much he's going to be around.

37:09I would be surprised if knowing Dante and how, like, he, he is the total from, you know,

37:18uh, coming up through the, the armed services and his coaching career.

37:23Like he is all about the team.

37:25He's never about himself.

37:27Like he is not going to, you know, be quoted and say like, I, you know, I'm going to come

37:32in and do X, Y, and Z.

37:33I would be surprised if we ever see him and we probably won't hear much about it, but

37:38you know, given, uh, he thinks the world of Rabel, they went into Patriots hall of fame

37:42together.

37:43He and Josh McDaniels, uh, have been basically, you know, they were running mates for a very

37:48long time.

37:49They're very close.

37:50They've stayed very close.

37:52Uh, and Dante Skarniecki has known and has a great deal of respect for drug room for

37:58many, many years.

38:00And because they're running the old system, given Dante's right down the road as well.

38:07Most people suspect that Dante is going to be around some, whenever these guys might

38:12need something.

38:13And it might be as little as, Hey, can you come in, uh, for a day or a half a day and

38:19teach us about this blocking system and sort of like what, what Josh wants on these types

38:24of plays?

38:25Or can you take a look at this player or just, you know, Hey, here's a computer, watch some,

38:30some practice film and tell me what you think.

38:32Like I, I think he's going to be around.

38:36I don't think it's going to be a ton, but people around the building, it would not be

38:41a surprise if they, if they see him, uh, at various times over the course of the next

38:48year, probably more so in the off season than in season, but we'll have to see.

38:52Hey man, uh, some scar better than no scar for me.

38:56So anytime you can have somebody come in like Skarniecki to help the program every once

39:04in a while, you know, if it's.

39:07You know, how tailing or hoteling, sorry, hoteling and, and, uh, Marone or, or watching

39:13a certain lineman and they're getting ready for the draft and they say, well, you know,

39:19we love this about them.

39:20We might not love this about them.

39:22Let's let's see what scar thinks just to throw it off a Skarniecki.

39:25Like there's no, there's no problem with that.

39:27That's not going to hurt anything to get his eyes on some of these prospects.

39:31If he wants to be involved like that, I think it's great.

39:35And if he wants to help Marone along with, you know, hoteling and maybe some other guys

39:39on the staff, I think it's great.

39:40If he wants to help McDaniels with some of this again, even if it's, you know, once every

39:46week, once every couple, whatever his schedule is, if scars in the building, it's a good

39:50thing.

39:51And I think that's what we take from it.

39:53Yeah.

39:54And one more thing, you know, it's sort of, I think I mentioned this in the last pod that

39:57the offer in this system.

39:59So now we know for a fact that they are going back to the old system and how the game plan

40:03and things like that, the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach are in lockstep.

40:09They have to work together on everything.

40:11Basically like the, the offensive line coach and huff tolling, I'm sure we'll be involved

40:16in this as well, but they're in charge every week, you know, drawing up the blocking scheme

40:22for passes for runs, like all this stuff, basically, you know, McDaniels, like I saw

40:27with bill O'Brien in Houston, he'll be like, all right, this is what we're thinking this

40:32week.

40:33Uh, this is the timing, like, you know, go draw it up.

40:36So, you know, could I see more, I don't know if Marone's ever done that before, but I could,

40:40I see, you know, scar going in the building to hang out with Marone and be like, Hey,

40:45you know, tell me, tell me how you, how, tell me how Josh works and what the process is

40:49in, in sort of the way you did things like, I could definitely see something like that.

40:54Another little note that Greg had before we get to the offensive staff and his story.

40:58And I found this to be, uh, you know, somewhat enlightening because I think a lot of people

41:03would think Skarnecchia Belichick guy, Belichick Skarnecchia guy, you know, and Skarnecchia

41:08when he came back years ago, you know, bill might've kind of massaged that and got him

41:13back in the building.

41:14But Greg, you know, reports that it was McDaniels.

41:17Actually, that was a gigantic reason why Dante was, was open to coming back because he respects

41:23the hell out of Josh McDaniels and enjoyed working with him.

41:27And so he was like, yeah, you know, I guess I'll come back now that Josh is back up.

41:31I could work with Josh again.

41:32So as Greg just mentioned, those guys have a very tight relationship and you know, it's

41:37funny because a lot of people will, you know, respect Skarnecchia and speak about him.

41:42Like he's one of the best, but some of those people, same people will turn around and be

41:46like, McDaniels has no idea what he's doing.

41:48If Skarnecchia respects Josh that much, that he came back because Josh was back.

41:56I think that should tell you about how smart Josh McDaniels is when it comes to football

42:01and when it comes to game planning, because scar has been around for a very long time

42:05and he has seen some of the best.

42:08And so again, you're talking about guys like Belichick and Skarnecchia and Vrabel and Sean

42:14McVay, very smart football people.

42:18You know, younger, older, in the middle, all generations.

42:23And those four guys think highly of Josh McDaniels.

42:27So I think that's why, you know, people should feel pretty good about him being your offensive

42:32coordinator.

42:33All right, let's look at the offensive staff under McDaniels.

42:35So QBs coach Ashton Grant, Greg, you can say as much as you want about each guy.

42:40You already said some things about Grant, but it seems like you've heard some, some

42:44great stuff about Ashton.

42:45Yeah, the thing that stands out about him is extremely bright, hard worker.

42:53I think he has the chance to be one of the best quarterback coaches that has ever served

42:58under Josh McDaniels.

43:00And they're really excited.

43:01I will say, you know, I know people make the connection that Vrabel was in Cleveland and

43:06you know, he knows Ashton Grant.

43:07I don't think they, I don't think they came across each other much in Cleveland last year.

43:13So, um, you know, this was definitely a case where McDaniels had his pick on who he wanted

43:18as quarterbacks coach and, uh, Ashton Grant, you know, was very impressive.

43:25Somebody that we haven't talked about a lot at all is, uh, Tony Dews.

43:28I mentioned him a little while ago, but running backs, Tony Dews running back Tony Dews.

43:33Yeah.

43:34Somebody told me somebody in the building told me that already, uh, Tony and I, I'd

43:38heard a lot about him and a lot of good things, uh, before this whole process.

43:43But he reminds people in the building of a young Ivan fears already.

43:46And I, I think the world of Ivan fears, I think he should have a red jacket in the Patriots

43:51hall of fame.

43:52He's another guy who's, he's been, he's been around.

43:54Um, I wouldn't be surprised if he's a little bit more involved.

43:58He was sort of, you know, he, under previous regimes, he sort of went in and worked out,

44:03sort of hung out and watch practice like every day.

44:06Uh, but Tony Dews is very impressive.

44:08He's a long track record.

44:11I mean, when you, when you look at him, he high school coach back in 97, uh, he looks

44:16younger than he is, you know, shout out to him.

44:18He's 51.

44:19He doesn't look 51, but, uh, I mean, wide receivers coach at the college level.

44:24Um, he's been a tight ends coach.

44:26He's been a recruiting coordinator.

44:28He's been a punt team coordinator, but really his bag as, as Greg mentioned has been running

44:32backs coach for the most part since 2017 West Virginia.

44:35Then with the Titans, then he was moved to tight ends coach.

44:38I think Greg said that was because, you know, Tony was so respected by Vrabel and Vrabel

44:42thought he was so smart that they wanted to kind of up his responsibility.

44:45Uh, and then of course, Vrabel got fired.

44:47So Tony was looking for work and he was with the jets last year as a running backs coach.

44:51So, uh, interestingly enough, of course, also with the jets was, was Todd Downing last year.

44:57So Downing obviously has some kind of relationship with Tony Dews.

45:01Um, you've said a lot about Todd Downing, anything else to add, or we move on to the

45:05next guy?

45:07Uh, I just found it interesting that he was the last interview for wide receivers coach,

45:11um, that they had.

45:13And like I said, Vrabel took himself out of the mix because he didn't want to be, uh,

45:18you know, put any sort of pressure on Josh McDaniels, but McDaniels was very comfortable

45:24with him.

45:25Uh, some might want us to throw this in there.

45:29Uh, so I will out of transparency, I'm sure Greg is aware of this.

45:33I am aware of this.

45:34Todd Downing was arrested in November of 2022 for a DUI.

45:38It's a personal mistake.

45:39Uh, he has worked with the jets last couple of years.

45:43There's been nothing else that I've seen, uh, since that.

45:45So yes, we're aware of it.

45:48Um, don't think it's a huge part of the headline here.

45:51Thomas Brown, uh, Greg, you, you talked, uh, glowingly about Thomas Brown.

45:57Uh, but here's the question I have for you, because I think you put this in the column

46:03at some point, how much could we see of Thomas Brown, uh, impact this offense as far as,

46:11you know, the evolution process, will we see some of the McVay stuff that Thomas is aware

46:17of that he could maybe sprinkle in with McDaniels as McDaniels puts this all together?

46:23Yeah, some of it, but I do think it's somebody pointed this out to me that, uh, you know,

46:29what McVay likes to do, the run game, the boots play action, stuff like that.

46:34Um, McDaniels already does.

46:37And you know, but I do think, and McDaniels also has, you know, whether it's Kyle Shanahan

46:42or Sean McVay, like he has really deep relationships with, you know, all of those guys, you know,

46:48out of that tree.

46:49So, uh, I'm sure he'd be open to it.

46:53Um, but I don't think it's a case of like, you know, he'll definitely weigh in.

46:59I mean, you know, McDaniels will listen and we'll have to see how that comes together.

47:04Seems to be a mixed bag about Doug Morrone.

47:07There seems to be a lot of people and yes, it's official.

47:09Doug Morrone will be working with the offensive line as we had expected.

47:13Um, but there, there's some pushback about Morrone, about how he hasn't necessarily developed

47:18a lot of young guys.

47:19But if you talk to people, Greg, within the game, including Scarnecchia, I mean, they

47:23sing this guy's praises.

47:25So how do we kind of balance that, that some of the pushback to go along with how well

47:29respected he is?

47:31Yeah, I think, I think, uh, Vrabel and McDaniels really wanted somebody who is experienced

47:36and in multiple systems and, you know, there is a lot of respect for Morrone now, you know,

47:41is he pretty gruff and, you know, can rub people the wrong way.

47:46Yeah.

47:47But show me a good offensive line coach that doesn't do that.

47:49I mean, you know, Scarnecchia wasn't, uh, the, uh, you know, uh, a bag of joy every

47:55day either.

47:56And, uh, I think he was okay, but I do think somebody told me that, uh, Hufftalling is

48:00a, is a really good guy.

48:02Um, they've really enjoyed having him and they think that the balance between Morrone

48:07and Hufftalling is going to be really good for the players.

48:11All right.

48:12Last guy here.

48:13I don't even know if you have anything on him.

48:15Uh, Riley Larkin from Ohio state.

48:17Did you hear anything about him or just kind of the, the great unknown on this staff?

48:22Nothing about him, but I did want to add, uh, cause you already reported this, I think

48:27on Saturday.

48:29So Ben McAdoo is moving to the defensive side of the ball.

48:32He will not be involved in the offense and, uh, you know, looking at my notes right now.

48:38Um, so what I was told is he's going to be like the offensive perspective in the defensive

48:44room, uh, sort of an advanced guy help with each opponent.

48:48Uh, it'll be more of like a in season thing, uh, to help on that side more than anything,

48:55but McAdoo is definitely going to, uh, bring an offensive perspective to the defensive

49:01room and won't be involved with the offense.

49:04Last thing I had for you today, and I hope people have enjoyed this podcast because it's

49:08been a full of, of information, Intel and all that.

49:12Uh, we found out also over the weekend, Greg, that reportedly Matthew Slater is, uh, leaving

49:17the building.

49:17He will not be part of this staff.

49:20Uh, any thoughts on Slater leaving?

49:22I know, I believe it was Mike Reese that wrote yesterday that Slater actually played a

49:26pretty, I don't know.

49:28I don't want to say a big role, but played a role in Drake May's rookie season and may

49:32had kind of, you know, enjoyed going to Slater and having certain conversations.

49:37Anything about Slater?

49:38Are you surprised or Slater was a male guy and it's kind of what comes with the

49:42territory here?

49:45Yeah, I don't know.

49:45And there's also rumors that Troy Brown's out as well.

49:48Um, we'll have to see if that comes to fruition.

49:50I mean, I, I always thought that Matthew Slater, even as it, and we'll see, because I

49:55think, I think one of the areas where the Patriots are eventually going to have to

49:59build out their infrastructure is, um, I forget what the term is, but you know,

50:06basically like player development.

50:08Um, and I thought Matthew Slater could be a great guy at that, you know, character

50:12coach, you know, chaplain, whatever you want to call it.

50:15Right.

50:16Uh, I always thought he'd be the ideal guy after, you know, Jack Easterby to fill that

50:21role.

50:21And I remember talking to him that he was definitely interested in that type of role.

50:25Uh, I don't know what the deal is.

50:27I'll be interested in finding out, you know, why he's not a part of things.

50:30Cause you know, I just think he's, he represents everything you want in a Patriot

50:35and a football player.

50:37He's Greg.

50:38I'm Nick that'll do it for our, uh, early in the week podcast.

50:42We'll be back in a, in a few days, obviously a lot is happening.

50:45I'm sure we'll have more information, more Intel, more to talk about, but until

50:48then, uh, thanks for joining us and be well.

Bedard's EXCLUSIVE Intel on New Patriots Hires | Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast

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