National Football League

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

Published Feb. 1, 2024 7:00 p.m. ET

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 per game (23.3) and made the playoffs despite starting five different quarterbacks, with starter Deshaun Watson's health consistently in question before he ended his year on injured reserve.

Van Pelt is an unfamiliar name for those in New England. The team had interviewed Rams tight ends coach Nick Caley, who had spent time with the Patriots in the same role. Josh McDaniels, a longtime offensive coordinator in New England, was also available after an unsuccessful stint as the Las Vegas Raiders' head coach.

Van Pelt came out of left field. And that's partly because the Patriots interviewed him on Wednesday for the first time then again on Thursday before making the hire, per the Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan. That said, he does have a connection to Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf going back to their shared time in Green Bay, when Van Pelt was QBs coach to Aaron Rodgers.

But this is what the Patriots need: new ideas and new blood.

Van Pelt seems to fall under the umbrella of Mayo's style. Van Pelt is a culture-setter and a well-liked coach, particularly by his players. He will be a positive presence and will likely help to thaw the icy reputation for coaches in New England under Belichick.

When it comes to X's and O's, it might not be a total schematic overhaul. Van Pelt will likely bring a West Coast system that New England used under McDaniels and, to some degree, under O'Brien. But Van Pelt can bring some schematic versatility and might bring some of the zone-running schemes that are so popular from the Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay coaching trees. New England tried and failed to implement parts of that system when Matt Patricia and Joe Judge were running the offense in 2022.

Van Pelt will be a voice of change and a crucial cog in reversing the brutal direction of the Patriots offense since the departures of Tom Brady and McDaniels. But most important, he'll be a part of Mayo's vision — not that of Belichick.

Prior to joining FOX Sports as the AFC East reporter, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.