Tag: alex van pelt

OC Alex Van Pelt says Patriots offense will be similar to Browns

The Patriots offense won’t be the same as the Browns under OC Alex Van Pelt, but expect to see similarities

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt isn’t looking to implement a carbon copy of the Cleveland Browns offense, but on Wednesday, he admitted their would be a lot of similarities.

The former Browns offensive coordinator gave a teaser of what to expect from the new-look Patriots offense when meeting with media members at an introductory press conference.

“I wouldn’t say same. Similar, I’d say there’s a lot of similarities,” said Van Pelt. “Again, there’s pieces of that puzzle—what’s available and how can we make those guys successful. But there’ll be similarities. I’ve taken pieces of a lot of different offenses over my time and kind of melded those together into what’s best for us at that time.”

Similarities could include a heavy offensive front with diverse run concepts.

Of course, the Patriots will need to get better on the offensive front to aid in a run-heavy approach. Their offensive line underperformed last season after being battered with injuries.

One also has to wonder if the Patriots might be willing to reach a bit more to keep Ezekiel Elliott on the roster. Under Van Pelt’s watch, he could create quite the one-two punch in the offensive backfield, similar to what the Browns have with Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt.

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Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt comments on possibility of Mac Jones returning as starter in 2024

Don’t close the book on Mac Jones just yet

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt has already met with quarterback Mac Jones and wide receiver Demario “Pop” Douglas since being hired by the team.

Van Pelt is working with the rest of the coaching staff to get up to speed with the current roster and help with future roster-building decisions. There have been reports that Jones is likely out of New England in 2024, but Van Pelt didn’t completely write the struggling quarterback off at Wednesday’s introductory press conference.

In fact, the newly-hired offensive coordinator claimed “everything is on the table,” when asked about the chances of Jones starting for the team next season.

“Right now, everything is on the table,” said Van Pelt.

The Patriots should have opportunities in free agency to go after a veteran quarterback. They’ll also have the option of taking one in the 2024 NFL draft. New England currently has the No. 3 overall pick, which puts them in reach of one of the top-three options on the board—Caleb Williams, Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels.

But it also isn’t out of the realm of possibility that the Patriots use their first-round pick to improve at wide receiver or the offensive line. If that’s the plan, they could save assets and money keeping either Mac Jones or Bailey Zappe as the starter.

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Patriots to host press conference with new coaching staff on Wednesday

Patriots set to hold their first press conference to introduce the new coaching staff.

The New England Patriots and head coach Jerod Mayo will hold an introductory press conference on Wednesday with offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington and special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer.

The press conference will take place on Wednesday at 3 p.m. ET, per Patriots.com’s Evan Lazar.

This will give fans and media alike a chance to hear from the new coaching staff for the very first time. All three were hired in February as part of a rebuild in the post-Bill Belichick era.

Van Pelt comes to New England from the Cleveland Browns, while Covington received an in-house promotion from defensive line coach. Meanwhile, Springer was the assistant special teams coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2022 and 2023.

A new era of Patriots football is officially beginning, and now, we will get our first chance to hear from the architects behind it.

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OC Alex Van Pelt gives first interview since joining Patriots

Patriots OC Alex Van Pelt delves into offensive philosophies

New England Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt gave an interview for the first time as a member of the organization on Wednesday.

In the interview, he shared some insight into his offensive philosophies ahead of coaching a Patriots team hoping to become a more cohesive unit.

Van Pelt was hired by the Patriots on February 1. He comes to New England from the Cleveland Browns and is known for being a quarterback developer. Granted, he will have his work cut out for him as the Patriots look to rejuvenate an offensive unit that ranked 30th in the NFL with 276.2 yards per game in 2023.

New England needs a new offensive identity, and it sounds as though Van Pelt can provide one.

Tailoring the offense to its personnel will be important, as the Patriots will look to have several new pieces on the offensive side of the football.

The key aspect for the Patriots will be getting the quarterback position right. Poor quarterback development was a problem for the Patriots with Mac Jones, and the franchise could ill-afford to have that scenario play out again.

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Patriots hiring former Browns assistant as new OL coach

Another former Cleveland Browns assistant coach is New England-bound

The band is getting back together.

After targeting former Cleveland Browns tight ends coach T.C. McCartney as a quarterbacks coach, the New England Patriots are reportedly hiring former Browns assistant coach Scott Peters as their new offensive line coach, per the Boston Herald’s Andrew Callahan.

Peters landed his first NFL opportunity with the Browns in 2020 and worked extensively underneath Van Pelt for four seasons. He’ll now join him in New England in hopes of helping to fix one of the biggest trouble spots for the team throughout the 2023 season.

If anything, this signing shows the Patriots are letting Van Pelt pick his own offensive staff. Per the Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi, this Patriots coaching staff was hoping to avoid a Bill O’Brien situation.

The Patriots are buying in completely and letting Van Pelt run with the offense. Of course, the biggest question is whether Peters will have the right personnel to be successful, which was the issue last season with Adrian Klemm coaching the offensive line.

It was a revolving door of injuries, linemen playing out of position and players just straight up underperforming. But this time around, the Patriots have the cap space and draft capital to fix those problems. Hopefully, they also have the right coaches to show them the way.

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Another Browns assistant joins Alex Van Pelt with Patriots

The Browns are down an assistant offensive line coach as Scott Peters joins Alex Van Pelt with the Patriots

The Cleveland Browns see another member of their 2023 offensive staff join the New England Patriots as assistant offensive line coach Scott Peters joins Alex Van Pelt in the AFC East.

After the departure of Bill Callahan, there was a thought that Peters could be promoted from assistant offensive line coach to Callahan’s job. However, the Browns have other plans as Peters is now off to New England. He joins Van Pelt, former tight ends coach T.C. McCartney, former assistant GM Eliot Wolf, and former front office staffer Alonzo Highsmith as former Browns personnel to join the new era in New England.

This could mean that Andy Dickerson, the former offensive line coach of the Seattle Seahawks, could be announced as the heir apparent to Bill Callahan any day now. The Browns interviewed Dickerson for the offensive coordinator gig before hiring Ken Dorsey, and it was reported the Patriots were making a “strong push” to hire the former Seattle coach as well.

With one coach exiting Cleveland and another not going to New England as originally thought, could the writing be on the wall?

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Former Browns assistant following Alex Van Pelt to the Patriots

Another former Browns assistant is joining New England

Former Cleveland Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is taking another former assistant with him to the Patriots. Last year’s tight ends coach T.C. McCartney is reportedly joining Van Pelt on new Patriots head coach Jerrod Mayo’s staff.

McCartney had been with the Browns for the past four seasons, in 2020 and 2021 he was an offensive assistant before being the team’s tight end coach the past two seasons. McCartney was let go after the season at the same time as Van Pelt.

It makes sense that Van Pelt would look to add coaches he is familiar with going into his first season with the Patriots. AVP will get a chance to truly run an offense and call plays for the first time joining a defensive-minded head coach’s staff. Keep an eye on other former Browns assistants who have worked with Van Pelt as he builds his support staff for the 2024 NFL season.

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Report: Patriots targeting former Alex Van Pelt assistant as QB coach

Alex Van Pelt could reportedly be bringing his former assistant coach along for the ride in New England

The New England Patriots are reportedly eyeing former Cleveland Browns tight ends coach T.C. McCartney as their next quarterbacks coach. NFL on CBS’ Jonathan Jones reported the news on Wednesday.

McCartney has a direct tie with newly-hired Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt. The two worked closely together during Van Pelt’s run as the offensive coordinator for the Browns.

This isn’t McCartney’s first rodeo in such a role, either. He also served as the quarterbacks coach for the Denver Broncos back in 2019, before jumping ship to Cleveland as an offensive assistant.

McCartney could be entrusted with helping to develop a rookie franchise quarterback, assuming the Patriots use the No. 3 overall pick of the 2024 NFL draft to upgrade at the position. If not, it could be more of an effort of McCartney and Van Pelt trying to fix the ongoing issues with Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe.

They’ll have their work cut out for them, but at the very least, there will be continuance from their previous working relationship in Cleveland.

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Grading Patriots’ 2024 coaching staff hires

Handing out grades to the Patriots’ coaching staff hires.

The New England Patriots have filled their four major coaching roles with head coach Jerod Mayo, offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt, defensive coordinator DeMarcus Covington and special teams coordinator Jeremy Springer.

There will always be skeptics refusing to let go of the old way of doing things and making room for the possibility of improvement with the new guard in place. Change clearly needed to happen for a Patriots team coming off a 4-13 season and finishing dead last in the AFC East.

No one knows what will come of the new coaching staff. This could be a case of the Patriots knocking it out of the park and creating a staff that leads the team back to prominence, or they might have doomed the team to even further irrelevance with the recent hirings.

Today, we’re passing out grades for the Patriots’ primary coaching hires for the 2024 season:

Former Bengals coach lands coordinator gig with Patriots

A former Bengals coach gets a big job in New England.

Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt has landed a new gig in the NFL.

Van Pelt is the lone winner of an interview gauntlet that included 10-plus names and will become the new offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots.

A popular name in Cincinnati from 2018-2019, Van Pelt went elsewhere in the AFC North in 2020, joining Kevin Stefanski with the Cleveland Browns through the 2023 season before losing the spot after the loss to Houston in the playoffs this postseason.

Van Pelt and the Patriots hold the No. 3 pick this year, which could go to attempting to find the team’s next franchise passer.

The Bengals will host Van Pelt and the new Jerod Mayo-led Patriots at Paycor Stadium next season.

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