Jerod Mayo moves away from Bill Belichick’s Patriot Way with new OC Alex Van Pelt

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Henry McKenna

AFC East Reporter

These are not Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots. Not anymore.

When the Patriots elected to hire Jerod Mayo as their head coach and — so far as we can tell — keep the front office intact, it felt a bit like they were retaining Belichick’s Patriot Way without the man himself. Mayo said he was going to do things differently. But it’s one thing to say it and another to do it differently. 

Well, the first piece of evidence came on Thursday.

New England is hiring Alex Van Pelt as its offensive coordinator. Mayo is hiring at every coordinator position, but this one was the most important. Mayo will lead the defense with help from defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington, an internal promotion. The Patriots defense was respectable in points allowed (15th in the NFL), particularly in the second half of the season. But Van Pelt will be in charge of rebuilding New England’s abysmal offense, which was last in the NFL in points scored per game (13.9).

The Patriots also have the third overall pick, where they could select a quarterback prospect like North Carolina’s Drake Maye or LSU’S Jayden Daniels. And even if they don’t draft a QB in Round 1, there’s little doubt they’ll bring in competition for Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe, two QBs who underwhelmed in 2023 under offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and a suspect supporting cast.

Van Pelt, 53, was most recently the Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator, but the team fired him after a one-and-done playoff appearance. The team discussed reassigning Van Pelt, who was not the team’s primary offensive playcaller, to a different role, but the two parties decided it was best to part ways, per ESPN’s Jake Trotter.

But it really wasn’t a bad season for Van Pelt. After all, he helped bring Joe Flacco’s career back to life, with a five-game stint that put the QB in the conversation for Comeback Player of the Year. The Browns finished 10th in points…

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Publish date : 2024-02-02 00:00:53

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