The New England Patriots are already looking towards the 2023 season, starting at the offensive play-caller position.
Instead of making a legitimate offensive coordinator hire, following the exit of Josh McDaniels, coach Bill Belichick threw an offensive play-calling sheet in former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia’s hands and went about business as usual.
Well, that obviously didn’t work in a year where the offense completely imploded and second-year quarterback Mac Jones suffered a serious regression.
When naming off possible offensive coordinator candidates for the Patriots, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported the Patriots had already “done their research” on recently fired Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury.
“The Patriots have done their research on Kliff Kingsbury,” said Breer, via NBC Sports Boston. “I don’t know if Kliff Kingsbury is even going to be available, I don’t know if Kliff Kingsbury’s even going to want to coach if he’s fired in Arizona, but I do think he’s somebody the Patriots would look at as far as if you’re looking at somebody who might be able to move things forward a little bit and has different ideas to inject into what you’re doing.
“I know things haven’t been perfect in Arizona, but one thing defensive coaches have told me consistently over the last couple of years is because it’s so outside of the norm, Kingsbury’s offense might be the most difficult to prepare for in the entire NFL. So that would be one name to put on your radar if the O’Brien thing doesn’t happen.”
It would be even better if Kingsbury could do the Patriots a solid and bring All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins with him as well.
If that is at all possible, you better believe the offensive guru would jump to the top of the list of fan-favorite candidates to join New England. But honestly, at this point, any legitimate offensive play-caller will do after the ugly year the team had offensively.
That’s a train wreck no one ever wants to experience again.
