A franchise with 18 dominant years. Six Super Bowl wins. One of the winningest coaches of all time. A quarterback with the most Super Bowl wins for one player.
The New England Patriots used to be the most powerful team in the NFL.
But over the past four seasons, since the departure of longtime quarterback Tom Brady, the team has struggled to show any signs of that once powerful dynasty.
Instead, after the Patriots’ final game of the 2024 season, resulting in a win, the team finished 4-13 for the second straight year.
Patriots owner Robert Kraft released a statement just hours after that game.
“We have tremendous fans who expect and deserve a better product than we have delivered in recent years,” he wrote. “I apologize for that.”
The single biggest challenge facing the team has been the loss of Brady, who with head coach Bill Belichick formed the foundation for that 18-year reign.
Jerod Mayo, a former Patriot and star who played under Belichick, took over the head coaching position prior to the start of last season.
In Kraft’s end-of-year statement, he also announced Mayo’s firing.
“For me, personally, this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made,” said Kraft, who championed Mayo as Belichick’s replacement.
In little more than a month, Kraft hired an all-new coaching staff.
The new head coach is former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel, also the former head coach of the Tennessee Titans. With three Super Bowl wins with the team as well as a spot in the Patriots Hall of Fame, Vrabel is well recognized and beloved in New England.
Josh McDaniels will return to New England for his third stint as offensive coordinator this coming season. His most memorable period with the team was from 2012-2022 with Belichick and Brady, a time in which the franchise won three Super Bowls.
With his return, will the team be more stable and reliable on the offensive line, with a unit that does not give up 52 sacks for the season?
Will the Patriots be able to protect the football and commit fewer than 30 fumbles?
On the defensive side, the new coordinator will be Terrell Williams, who coached for six seasons with Vrabel in Tennessee.
Williams brings a different strategic approach. While the Patriots have traditionally played a read-and-react style, Williams coaches a much more aggressive approach, in which the defense strikes first.
Much of the rest of the coaching staff has also been replaced. With this incoming shuffle of new coaches the question stands: Can the Patriots pull themselves out of this hole?
Having a head coach who played for Belichick in the prime of his career, and an offensive coordinator who worked side-by-side with Belichick for some of the best years in the team’s history, could be an attempt to bring back the glory days.
During his introductory press conference Vrabel shared some thoughts on how he is planning to run the team.
“We’re going to ask our players to do just a few things,” he said. “One is to put the team first, to know what to do, and play fast and aggressive. That’s the vision.”
What is to come will essentially be a reboot, one sure to be built on second-year quarterback Drake Maye.
“Drake is going to be his own person, but I’m going to give him some things that I feel are necessary to help us win football games,” Vrabel said.
Maye, a former first-round draft pick from the University of North Carolina, threw for a total of 2,276 yards and 15 touchdowns in his rookie season. His potential has most fans excited, with some already — and unfairly — comparing him to Brady.
But Brady is the winningest quarterback in the history of the league. Maye has only won four games.
“I’m interested to see when he plays if he becomes a little bit more of a dual-threat guy or if he’s just a pocket passer and a big, tall, strong guy in the pocket,” McDaniels said on the “Games with Names” podcast with former Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman. “But the games I’ve seen he’s done a good job in.”
With seven months until the start of a new season, a lot of work is yet to be done to answer two essential questions: Is there hope for the return of a championship team? Or is another season of disaster on its way?
