The New England Patriots have found their new offensive coordinator, hiring Alex Van Pelt to lead the unit and replace Bill O'Brien.
Van Pelt, 53, is the most senior coordinator of new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo's staff. The former NFL quarterback has spent 18 seasons as an assistant coach in the NFL, most recently serving as the Cleveland Browns' offensive coordinator for the last four seasons. Prior to his stint with the Browns, Van Pelt has mostly worked as a quarterbacks coach, spending time with the Buffalo Bills, Green Bay Packers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals.
While Van Pelt might not be the young, hotshot coach that many Patriots fans were hoping for, their decision to hire him to be their next offensive coordinator is a smart move. Here are three reasons why.
He managed a quarterback carousel with the Browns last season, finding success
The first full season of the Deshaun Watson experience in Cleveland didn't go as expected. The highly-paid franchise quarterback only played in six games due to multiple injuries last season, but that didn't hold the Browns back from making the postseason.
The Browns were able to make it to the playoffs because the play they got from their backup quarterbacks was competent enough not to screw things up. But there were many backup quarterbacks they had to work through as well, with Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker finding some success before Joe Flacco came in.
Somehow, the then-38-year-old quarterback had one of the best stretches of football in his career after serving as a below-average journeyman for the previous four seasons. Flacco threw for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions over five regular-season games.
The Flacco magic wore off in the Browns' opening-round playoff loss to the Houston Texans but many people gave credit to Van Pelt for helping revitalize the quarterback's career. That's likely why many were surprised within the Browns' organization when he was fired at the end of the year.
When you look at how messy the Patriots' quarterback situation was last season, getting someone who has successfully steered the ship through a cruddy quarterback situation is a major pickup.
He's worked with a pair of the top veteran quarterbacks in free agency
The Patriots are going to have to address their quarterback situation one way or another, regardless if it's through free agency or the draft.
In fact, it might be a smart idea for the Patriots to sign a veteran quarterback even if they select a quarterback with the No. 3 overall pick. If they do, Van Pelt has connections with a pair of the top quarterbacks on the free-agent market: Baker Mayfield and Jacoby Brissett.
Van Pelt coached both of them over his time in Cleveland, helping Mayfield bounce back in 2020 after the No. 1 overall pick struggled in his sophomore season in the league. Mayfield might not make it to free agency though considering the year he had in Tampa, with the Buccaneers rumored to want to make a heavy push to bring him back.
Even if Mayfield is off the table, Brissett presents a solid stopgap option for the Patriots. The former Patriots quarterback was decent under Van Pelt's tutelage in 2022, completing 64 percent of his passes for 2,608 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions with an 88.9 passer rating to go with 243 rushing yards and two rushing scores in 11 games.
Aaron Rodgers and Van Pelt's former quarterbacks have spoken highly of him
Van Pelt was the Packers' quarterbacks coach when Rodgers won his second MVP in 2014, with the quarterback putting up one of the most efficient seasons in NFL history that year.
Rodgers praised Van Pelt throughout his time in Green Bay, with then Packers head coach Mike McCarthy saying the relationship between the two was “one of the most important relationships” within the team.
“I just have a lot of respect for him,” Rodgers told reporters. “As a coach, as a person, as a confidant.”
In fact, Rodgers' relationship with Van Pelt was so close that he was pretty public with his displeasure that the team let him go in 2018, calling it a “strange” decision.
Other than Rodgers, Mayfield has also openly praised the coach, complimenting him after the Browns upset the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2020 playoffs.
“He is not that far removed from his playing days,” Mayfield told reporters of Van Pelt. “Just a real relatable guy. Very understanding. The open communication is pretty essential to what has been our success so far. AVP is just like that. He wants to talk through it and hear our thoughts as well.”
He's also had success coaching the running game
Van Pelt was actually the running backs coach for his first two seasons in Green Bay before becoming its quarterbacks coach. He seems to know what he's doing with the run game though as the Browns have consistently had one of the game's best ground attacks with Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator. They ranked in the top four in rushing yards in Van Pelt's first two seasons before falling slightly back to sixth in 2022.
The Browns took a further dip in the rushing ranks in 2023, falling to 12th. But that was almost certainly due to Nick Chubb suffering a season-ending injury in Week 2. Prior to 2023, Chubb emerged as one of the game's top running backs under Van Pelt, recording a whopping 1,525 rushing yards in 2022.
He was highly popular with the Browns' players
The Patriots' offense has been miserable to watch the last couple of seasons and sounded it like things were just as miserable behind the scenes.
Van Pelt seemed to be popular within the locker room in Cleveland. He was a “glue guy” in Cleveland and many people were surprised by his firing because of that, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer. Joel Bitonio even openly expressed his surprise that Van Pelt was let go when he spoke with reporters in January.
“I loved AVP,” Bitonio said. “He was a great guy and did a lot of good things for us. I know him and Coach [Kevin] Stefanski and really the whole staff did a great job of getting us in the right plays. I knew nothing about it until I saw it on Twitter like everybody else, so it's always a little bit of surprise.
“I think Coach Stefanski just wants to continue to tweak things. He did some things on defense last year and some things on offense now this year and special teams as well last year. But I have nothing but good things to say about a AVP. He was a great dude. He truly embodied that play-for-your-brother attitude with us, and you never want to see guys leave.”
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