According to multiple media reports on Wednesday, former Patriots offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will be leaving the organization after one season.
This news comes on the same day former Patriots OC Josh McDaniels was officially announced as the head of New England’s offense for the third time in his career.
While the news of Van Pelt departing New England may seem obvious on its surface, given that the team just hired a different guy to do the job he was doing, comments from Patriots chairman and CEO Robert Kraft during his end-of-season press conference kept the door open for a possible return for all of fired head coach Jerod Mayo’s assistant coaches.
“It'll be his decision,” said Kraft when asked what type of latitude the new coach would have as it relates to bringing in his own “guys” vs. working with those assistant coaches in New England remaining under contract.
With those comments, weeks went by, and multiple interviews with multiple offensive coordinator candidates were conducted by new head coach Mike Vrabel. And as that news trickled out, all was quiet on the Van Pelt front.
There was some thought among Patriots fans and media that the 54-year-old may remain on the staff in a different role, possibly one where he worked closely with quarterback Drake Maye. The UNC-product spoke openly throughout the season about his appreciation for Van Pelt, giving him credit for developing him into a QB that New England fans are excited about heading into his second season.
“I think some of what AVP does every day is he brings it every day,” Maye told the media on New Year’s Day. “I think that's part of something that the quarterback, you've got to bring it every day. It doesn't matter. As the quarterback of the team, these guys look to you, and it's within the title of bringing it every day and bringing juice.
“Even when you're 3-13, you're bringing it every day and still approaching it the same way. I think AVP has done a great job of telling me throughout the games as well, ‘Hey, you just threw an interception; hey, you're still the same guy. Still go out there and rip it.’ He's done a great job of kind of putting confidence in me, kind of instilling that and realizing that you've got to play with confidence in this league to play quarterback.”
Despite that praise and credit from the future of the franchise, Van Pelt’s working relationship with Maye officially came to a close on Wednesday.
Before his one season in New England, Van Pelt previously served as offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns (2020-23), but 2024 was the first time in his coaching career where he was given full-time play calling duties. Before serving as OC in Cleveland, Van Pelt had stops in Buffalo, Tampa Bay, Green Bay and Cincinnati in various offensive coaching roles from 2006 to 2019.
Prior to coaching, Van Pelt spent nine seasons with the Buffalo Bills as their primary back-up quarterback, only starting 11 games from 1995 to 2003.
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