Alex Van Pelt’s run in Foxborough has reached its end after one season.
The previous offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots will not be part of head coach Mike Vrabel’s 2025 staff, according to Wednesday reports from Joseph Pasteris as well as MassLive’s Mark Daniels.
Van Pelt, 54, had been hired last February under former head coach Jerod Mayo. And during what became a 4-13 campaign, the offensive playcaller oversaw the development of rookie starter Drake Maye along with quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney.
“What he’s done for me this year and what he’s done for my development is huge for me,” the No. 3 overall pick told WEEI in December. “I credit AVP and T.C. and the quarterback room for helping me prepare every week. Still taking every week — even with our record every week — like it’s a big one for us. I really respect that, and I really appreciate them taking a chance on me along with the rest of the franchise. A lot of things to look forward to, and I’ve been a big fan of AVP and how he’s handled my approach.”
Maye, 22, completed 66.6 percent of his passes for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Arriving by ground for the North Carolina product were 421 yards and an additional pair of scores.
But New England collectively averaged 17 points per game and gave way to 52 sacks. The offense converted on 34.8 percent of third downs, while also turning 46.8 percent of visits to the red zone into visits to the end zone.
“The thing that I can hang my hat on is that this team has played hard,” Van Pelt said prior to January’s finale. “There’s not been any game where they have not put out their full effort. That’s impressive. It’s easy for a lot of teams and I’ve been around teams that are out of the playoffs and kind of just cruise to the end. We’re going to try to finish strong. We started fast. That was my message to them. We started fast with a win, let’s finish strong with a win at home in front of our crowd. Whatever happens after that, we’ll see. I would love to be back. I really like the organization. I like our guys. There’s stuff to build on there, but again, that’s out of my control.”
Prior to making his way to Gillette Stadium, Van Pelt spent the previous four campaigns as the offensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns under head coach Kevin Stefanski, filling in as the team’s playcaller for a playoff win. He had quarterbacks coach added to his title in 2023 — a season that brought five different starters under center, including NFL Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco.
An ex-NFL quarterback, Van Pelt was selected in the eighth round of the 1993 draft out of the University of Pittsburgh. His time in the league spanned 31 games and 11 starts through stops with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills.
Following retirement, Van Pelt volunteered at the University of Buffalo before serving as the quarterbacks coach of NFL Europe’s Frankfurt Galaxy in 2005. He returned to the Bills from 2006 through 2009, going from offensive quality control coach to quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. Subsequent positions were held with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals from 2010 through 2019.
The Patriots have filled out the coordinator branches since the week began, hiring Josh McDaniels on offense, Terrell Williams on defense and retaining Jeremy Springer on special teams.