Tom Brady was very close with Josh McDaniels over the years so he had some say in the Patriots' game plans each week, but he may have more of a say now that he's in Bruce Arians' offense in Tampa Bay.
ESPN's Jenna Laine explained what it could look like this season and how it could be good for the quarterback.
"So much has been made about the Xs and Os impact of Tom Brady going from the Patriots to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But not enough has been discussed about the psychological impact of Tom Brady going from Bill Belichick to uniting with Bruce Arians as Arians and Brady are two people that have a very strong desire for a human connection," she said. "In fact, Arians will tell you he fashions himself as a pseudo psychologist when it comes to his quarterback. He says, 'I want to be tethered to him not only at the hip, but also the heart, too.' And a lot of that stems from his years working as a bartender where he truly learned to analyze people, being able to assess situations, picking up on non-verbal cues and he applies that to the coaching profession.
"Arians also understands the importance of giving a quarterback ownership of game preparation. In fact, he will ask him, 'Give me your 15 favorite pass plays. The coaching staff, this is what we're thinking in terms of run plays.' They merge all those together to script the first 30 plays of the game, which Byron Leftwich will call. Then they will move to situational football. 'What do you like on third-and-short? What do you like on third down and and third-and-long?' What do you like in goal-line situations?' And if a quarterback is not feeling a particular play that the coaching staff proposes, he has the final say. He gets to veto it.
"With this phase of his career, at age 43, coming into a new system and being able to have the freedom to be able to say, 'I don't want to run that play, or even to make checks at the line of scrimmage' -- even in a new offense he's going to get a ton of freedom there, too.
"That is going to be very, very invigorating as well as the fact that so much has been made about Brady having declining arm strength. Arians doesn't see any of that and he will tell him on third-and-short, 'If you get 1-on-1 coverage on the outside, go for the kill. Take your deep shot and go for the touchdown.' Arians' philosophy is never waste an opportunity to crush the spirit of an opposing defense."
Brady has already begun working with his new teammates in private workouts since the facility remains close due to COVID-19.
