It really will be like old times with Bill O’Brien taking over the same roles that he had with the New England Patriots back in 2011. On Thursday, the team officially announced O’Brien would be taking over as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Significant regression in 2022 pushed the Patriots in the direction of a major shake-up on the offensive side of the ball.
O’Brien hopes to be the change the team desperately needs after missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. The team’s previous offensive play-caller, Matt Patricia, and quarterbacks coach, Joe Judge, still remain a mystery with all of the recent changes.
Will coach Bill Belichick seek to reassign them to new positions on the staff, or will they be let go entirely?
Patricia in particular has taken the brunt of the blame for the struggles, but to be fair, he was put in that position by Belichick, despite the clear lack of experience as an offensive play-caller. Getting ousted at this point would do him no favors in future endeavors.
But having O’Brien overseeing both the play-calling and quarterback situation will be like night and day for a unit that was doomed to failure under Patricia.
