O'Brien was the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech when Godsey was the Yellow Jackets quarterback from 1998-2001, so it was a logical assumption.

When O'Brien left New England after the Super Bowl to succeed Joe Paterno as Penn State's head coach, it was equally logical to assume Godsey would be a candidate to join his former coach in Happy Valley. Instead, he remained in Foxborough and was promoted to tight ends coach.

"When I made the decision to come here it was a commitment to the Patriots and Bill Belichick and to Mr. [Robert] Kraft," Godsey said. "I think on my end that was something I wanted to follow through with. I'm looking forward to this year's opportunity coaching the tight ends."

As position coach gigs go, one could do a lot worse than working with the Patriots tight ends. Obviously the team is stacked at the position with record-setter Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, not to mention newcomers Daniel Fells (who has yet to suit up this spring due to injury) and Bo Scaife, who was signed last week.

"It's a nice group of personalities," Godsey said. "It's good to learn from those guys too, guys that have been through a lot of different experiences. On the offensive side of the ball you talk about Josh McDaniels, Dante Scarnecchia, Ivan Fears, Chad O'Shea – there's wealth of experience that may not necessarily apply to the tight end position but it may and I'm learning from it.

"For me it's a learning experience. I've learned from some great coaches with a lot of experience, not just on the field but off the field with Mr. Kraft and the way he handles his organization. For me it's eye-opening every day and just trying to take whatever information I can learn from those guys and apply it to my daily role."

Even though he was more familiar with O'Brien, Godsey has enjoyed working under McDaniels and has found many similarities between the two.

"All under the same umbrella with the system of the Patriots," he said. "Josh does a good job, like Billy did, of letting the coaches know what's going in for that day and what we need to emphasize. There are a lot of things as a coach you can emphasize but if you're not working it that day you're spinning your wheels. It's all about communication as a coach."