The New England Patriots are in preparation mode for the 2024 NFL off-season, after naming their full coaching staff under rookie head coach Jerod Mayo.
Mayo’s new staff includes 17 new coaches, all with different connection points and experiences that should make this a fun staff. The Patriots decided to completely clean house on offense and allow newly-hired offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt to have a say in his offensive staff. They are even employing quality control coaches and assistants, which is something that was atypical during Bill Belichick’s reign.
What I also like is that the Patriots have quite a few former players on staff, which is key to building a new culture and connecting earlier with young players.
Mayo and de facto general manager Eliot Wolf are surely trying to rebuild a winning culture and create a desire for others to come to New England. Relatability, connectivity and passion come to mind with this new-look coaching staff and front office.
We’re going to take a look at the offensive coaching staff for 2024 and dive deeper into each hire and what it means for the Patriots.
Offensive Coordinator: Alex Van Pelt
Van Pelt was hired in January, after working as the Cleveland Browns’ offensive coordinator from 2020-2023. Per NFL insider Albert Breer, Van Pelt was well-respected in Cleveland and considered the “glue” guy to that coaching staff.
Van Pelt clearly has connections with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who runs a west coast offense. He talked about running a similar offense to the one he coached in Cleveland. However, he will likely have his own spin on the modern NFL offense.
Van Pelt has seemed like a terrific personality that should help usher in a new era in New England.
Quarterbacks coach: TC McCartney
McCartney has experience with the San Francisco 49ers as an offensive assistant from 2017-2018. He also coached quarterbacks in 2019 with the Denver Broncos and was more recently with the Browns from 2020-2023 as a tight ends coach.
Experience working with different quarterbacks is a must, but McCartney seems like someone the Patriots would flag as a successor to Van Pelt, if he ever leaves for a head coaching gig down the line.
Assistant quarterbacks coach: Evan Rothstein (NOT CONFIRMED)
Evan Rothstein has worked as a behind-the-scenes football prodigy for the Patriots since 2021. He was seemingly the Ernie Adams replacement for Belichick and has a sort of football mystique to him, similar to Adams.
Rothstein came into the NFL in 2012 with the Detroit Lions, where he spent two seasons as a special teams quality control coach, before moving into a role titled “Special Projects” in 2014. He was then the Lions offensive assistant coach/research & analysis from 2015-2017, before becoming research & analysis/ head coach assistant from 2018-2019 and then dropping the head coach assistant part in 2020.
He joined the Patriots’ research & analysis department in 2021, when following Matt Patricia from the Lions, and finally began to transition into a more defined on-field role in 2022 as an offensive assistant. Last season, he was the assistant quarterbacks coach, and it was reported he would be returning to the Patriots.
His return will likely be as an assistant quarterbacks coach, but one has to wonder if he will head back into a front office type role and remain behind the scenes like a “Moneyball” guru.
Senior offensive assistant: Ben McAdoo
Ben McAdoo might have been a failed head coach, but he is an incredible offensive mind and positional coach. He’s looking to revitalize his career by helping McCartney and Van Pelt rebuild a struggling Patriots offense.
McAdoo has experience coaching multiple positions and has the head coaching experience to give Mayo another veteran voice on his staff, as he navigates through his first year.
The word collaboration has been used throughout the offseason by the new Patriots coaching staff. McAdoo will certainly have a voice, albeit minor, when it comes to offensive personnel.
Offensive line coach: Scott Peters
Peters played in the NFL for seven seasons as an offensive lineman. As a coach, he was hired as the assistant offensive line coach for the Browns in 2020, where he remained until being hired as the offensive line coach by the Patriots in 2024.
Peters is open about his use of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to help train offensive lineman, and he should bring some new aged techniques and intensity to the offensive line under Alex Van Pelt.
Assistant offensive line coach: Robert Kugler
After having the same title under the Houston Texans and Panthers since 2021, Kugler shifts over to the Patriots in order to help Peters develop and re-train existing offensive lineman.
Both should bring some experience and fit into the former player category that will help create the new culture Jerod Mayo is trying to install. Improving the offensive line will be key to the success the Patriots hope to achieve in 2024 and beyond.
Wide receivers coach: Tyler Hughes
Hughes was in New England from 2020-2022 as an assistant before heading to the University of Washington for work as an offensive assistant and quality control coach.
He could also have insight into receiver talent coming out of Washington, as there are three slated to go in the top-100. However, this is a real shot for Hughes as a positional coach to be able to develop and connect with younger talent.
The Patriots have failed to develop at the receiver position over the years, and Hughes might be able to bridge the gap.
Assistant wide receivers coach: Tiquan Underwood
We keep with the trend of former NFL players taking coaching positions with the Patriots hiring Tiquan Underwood.
Tyler Hughes might be an excellent offensive mind and someone to help develop talent through coaching technique, but he lacks the former player pedigree that Mayo wished to have on his offense under Van Pelt. So the Patriots brought in Underwood.
The former Patriots receiver fits the bill, and he will help Hughes develop receiver talent, while also ensuring a pipeline of positional coaches. Underwood worked in 2019 as a quality control coach in Miami, but he has collegiate experience as a receivers coach. He started at Lafayette in 2018 and went on to Rutgers from 2020-2021, before finishing his college run at Pittsburgh from 2022-2023.
Tight ends coach: Bob Bicknell
A local guy, born in Holliston, Massachusetts in 1969, Bob Bicknell will add experience to a younger coaching staff. He played college football as a tight end for the Boston College Eagles, before entering his coaching arch.
He started coaching in 1993 in the college ranks, but he really didn’t get into the NFL until 2007. He was with the Kansas City Chiefs from 2007-2009, serving as assistant offensive line coach, offensive line coach and tight ends coach. He went on to the Buffalo Bills to coach their tight ends from 2010-2011, and then he started working with their receivers in 2012.
He then went on to coach wide receivers for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2013-2015 and the 49ers in 2016, before leaving for Baylor in 2017 for the same role. He came back to the NFL in 2018, serving as the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers coach until 2020, before taking a two-year break and then serving as a senior offensive assistant for the New Orleans Saints.
Running backs coach: Taylor Embree
Embree is another young coach that was a recent former player that can relate to how players think and feel. He was a wide receiver at UCLA from 2008-2011, before going undrafted and playing one season in the NFL.
His coaching experiences began in 2012, and it has seen him take roles on the 49ers’ staff from 2017-2019 as a quality control coach and Colorado’s staff as a tight ends coach in 2020. Embree began to coach running backs in 2021 for the New York Jets and remained there until being brought on under Alex Van Pelt to run the running back room in New England.
Although a lot of these coaches might be coaching out of position, they have plenty of positional versatility on the staff to be able to have the offense be more connected and well-developed.
Assistant quality control coach: Michael McCarthy
The Patriots are bringing in Mike McCarthy, and no, not the one who is the current head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. But this McCarthy has spent the last five seasons coaching the offensive line for Brown University.
McCarthy has had coaching experience in the NFL as well and will assist the staff as a quality control coach. He has worked in at least some capacity with the Jets, Browns and Lions throughout his tenure.
