Ashton Grant reportedly hired by Patriots to be Drake Maye's quarterbacks coach
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots have reportedly hired Ashton Grant to be Drake Maye's new quarterbacks coach. Grant worked with new Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel last season with on the Cleveland Browns staff, and is now joining him in New England.
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports was first to report the hiring late Thursday night. Grant will be working with Patriots quarterbacks Drake Maye and Joe Milton under offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels in New England.
Who is Ashton Grant?
Grant spent the last five seasons with the Browns after the franchise gave him his first NFL job as part of the Bill Willis Coaching Fellowship in 2020. He remained in Cleveland in 2021 and was named the Browns offensive quality control coach in 2022. He was promoted to offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach in 2023.
While the Patriots are changing up Maye's offensive coaches for his second NFL season, there should be some carryover with Grant. Last year's offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt won't be back, but Grant did work with him in Cleveland from 2020-23. Grant replaces TC McCartney in Foxboro, who was also an offensive coach in Cleveland from 2020-23.
Grant will work with McDaniels in New England, who doubled as New England's OC and QBs coach in his previous stints with the team. While McDaniels won't hold the quarterbacks coach title this time around, he'll still be heavily involved with Patriots quarterbacks.
Ashton Grant's local ties to New England
Joining the Patriots is a bit of a homecoming for Grant, who is a Manchester, Connecticut native. In college, he played wide receiver for four seasons at Assumption in Worcester. He set the school record for most touchdown receptions in a single season when he caught 13 touchdowns in 2016, which earned him Northeast-10 Offensive Player of the Year honors. He is etched in the Assumption record books with the most overall receiving yards (3,204) and touchdown receptions (36) in school history.
Grant spent time in training camp with the Kansas City Chiefs and Chicago Bears, and played for the Salt Lake Stallions in the now-defunct Alliance of American Football. When his playing days ended, he returned to Worcester and joined the coaching staff at Holy Cross as a quality control assistant in 2019.
Patriots reportedly hire Riley Larkin as offensive assistant
The Patriots are also reportedly adding Riley Larkin to McDaniels' offensive staff, according to Pete Thamel of ESPN. Larkin was with the National Champion Ohio State Buckeyes last year, serving as an assistant QB coach for head coach Ryan Day and offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
