After the excitement over Robert Kraft hiring Mike Vrabel as the next Patriots head coach, there was a lot of speculation about who he would bring in to make up his staff. After the Jerod Mayo era flopped quickly but produced their next franchise quarterback, there was a special interest around who Vrabel would hire as the next offensive coordinator, with Josh McDaniels at the forefront of options.
Although fans had vocalized their desire to see him move on before he eventually accepted the Raiders' head coaching job, his impressive career with Tom Brady made it easy to want him to return to work with Drake Maye. So when it was announced he was who Vrabel was hiring, the excitement around the Patriots' 2025 season grew even further.
And that wasn't limited to the fans. Maye shared his favorable reaction to the news and how thrilled he was to watch Brady tape with the playcaller who worked closest with him throughout his career.
That excitement has remained this offseason so far, with all parties speaking highly of their time together early in the offseason. Fans are also bursting at the seams about it, especially since the Patriots' social team shared the first photos of Maye and McDaniels last week.
The first glimpse of Drake Maye and Josh McDaniels together has Patriots fans dreaming about the future
The Patriots began their voluntary offseason program last week and spammed their social media pages with enough content to keep fans over for the foreseeable future. From seeing Christian Barmore return to practice and Stefon Diggs working out like he isn't recovering from an ACL injury to Vrabel getting hands-on in drills, the Patriots will be a much-improved team in 2025.
Within those photos was one of Maye and McDaniels talking on the field, prompting fans to lose their minds over the potential of their working relationship this fall.
We are so back.
— Evan Lazar (@ezlazar) May 3, 2025
📸@EricJAdler pic.twitter.com/JKAF7v6kW7
It's a much different reaction to the offseason than just one year ago, when things seemed to be getting out of hand for Mayo and the new staff.
The vibes are much different this time and have brought out the most optimism from analysts and fans in over five years. It's an exciting time to be a Patriots fan, and the future is much brighter than it has looked for far too long. Knowing that is already frightening the competition makes it even better.