Josh McDaniels gives some insight into how the Patriots’ offensive staff operates

The New England Patriots have one of the smaller coaching staffs in the NFL. This, of course, means that its members need to bring one of the Patriots’ most valued traits to the table at all time: versatility. Just like the team’s players, every one of its coaches needs to be comfortable when it comes to wearing multiple hats and being responsible for a bigger field than the official job title might indicate.

During a conference call on Monday, New England offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels gave some insight into how those roles look like for various members of the staff. “Our coaches do a tremendous job [...] of evaluating a lot of different situations that they’re responsible for during the course of the week,” the 42-year old, who is serving as coordinator since 2012, said about his staff.

According to the 42-year old, its work is divided into separate situations for which each coach is responsible for during the course of a week leading up to a game — from scouting to helping implement:

Wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea: red zone

Offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia: running game, short yardage

Running backs coach Ivan Fears: backed-up, goal line

Tight ends coach Nick Caley: third down

Offensive assistant Cole Popovich: short yardage

“We have a lot of things that they’re really tremendously involved with,” McDaniels continued praising his co-workers and what they bring to the table. “And they help educate me not only during the bye week but usually weekly on what we’ve called, any tendencies that we have that I can try to do a better job of fixing and maybe some of the things that I need to call more or less or what have you.”

The success speaks for itself: New England has one of the best offensive units in the NFL year in and year out. Of course, having future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady run the show on the field helps, but the preparation during the week and the role the entire coaching staff plays in it cannot be underestimated either. After all, it lays the foundation during upon which the game plan is built.

“We all have a job to do,” McDaniels said about his staff and its contribution to the overall success of the team. “We all can continue to try to improve and hopefully do our best work here coming down the stretch and playing games after Thanksgiving, which is always our goal. I know there’s areas that I can improve on and impact the game in a better way than what I’ve done. [...] Hopefully my best football is ahead of me as well.”