"FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- When Drake Maye met Josh McDaniels for the first time, they were in different countries. Maye had just proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Ann Michael Hudson, on the sandy beaches of Mexico. McDaniels was moving back into a familiar space as New England Patriots offensive coordinator for the third time in his NFL coaching career. "He was in the office, obviously, like he always is, probably watching film or something," Maye recalled of the January video call with a smile."
""It had nothing to do with football, that's what I remember," McDaniels said. It wouldn't be about football for a while. Before Maye and McDaniels shared X's and O's that have made them one of the NFL's most explosive QB-coordinator duos this season, they played pickleball together and dined at McDaniels' home, with quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant joining them."
""Gaining that trust and getting to know who they were as people was the first thing," said Grant, who is 30. He has had the most intimate behind-the-scenes viewpoint of how Maye, 23, and McDaniels, 49, have united. Who won those pickleball games remains top secret. Nonetheless, the "thwack!" was symbolic in the sense they had both taken hits and were motivated, after being on divergent paths last season, to reignite their careers together."
Drake Maye connected with Josh McDaniels via a January video call while Maye was in Mexico after proposing to his girlfriend. McDaniels returned to New England for a third stint as offensive coordinator, and early interactions focused on personal bonding rather than schematic work. They developed rapport through pickleball, shared meals, and proximity when Maye bought a home near McDaniels. Quarterbacks coach Ashton Grant emphasized that gaining trust and understanding them as people came first. Both men had endured setbacks—Maye's difficult rookie season and McDaniels' firing in Las Vegas—and shared motivations to revive their careers together.
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