No one is more qualified than Bill O’Brien to run the New England Patriots offense in 2022. That comes with the obvious asterisk: it excludes all current head coaches. But as far as coaches the Patriots can actually get, O’Brien makes the most sense.
He was already a great fit when former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left for the Las Vegas Raiders. O’Brien makes even more sense after McDaniels poached Patriots QBs coach Bo Hardegree, OL coach Carmen Bricillo and WRs coach Mike Pellegrino, who will be the Raiders offensive coordinator. The Patriots are also likely to see RBs coach Ivan Fears retire, which means they’ll retain just one of their offensive positional coaches: TEs coach Nick Caley. They may have added former New York Giants coach Joe Judge. As talented as he may be — with experience as the Patriots special teams coordinator and receivers coach — he can’t coach the entire offense with Caley.
New England needs to add experienced talent to their ranks. They cannot give up on their pursuit of O’Brien, currently the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.
O’Brien worked with the Patriots from 2007 to 2011. He was the offensive coordinator for just one season in 2011. His knowledge of the Patriots system would be a blend of rusty and outdated. That said, he’d likely be a quicker study than someone like Adam Gase — or another out-of-house candidate with a sharp mind but no time spent in New England.
O’Brien’s time in Alabama will also appeal to New England. Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones is at the center of the equation. The fact that O’Brien has familiarity with Alabama, where Jones once played, and with the Patriots, where Jones is, of course, currently playing, is a tremendous asset. At least on paper, O’Brien is not just a great candidate to call plays in New England’s offense. He’s also the ideal person to develop the team’s former 15th overall pick, Jones. Both things are monumentally important for this offensive staff in 2022.
The dynamics of acquiring O’Brien are complicated, however.
The first hurdle: Bill Belichick may not want to offend his buddy Nick Saban by poaching an offensive coordinator after O’Brien spent just one year in the position. If that’s the case, Belichick would need to massage Saban in order to avoid burning one of the Patriots coach’s most important friendships in the industry.
The second hurdle: O’Brien may not be interested in jumping back into the NFL coaching ranks in any position other than a head coach. But beggars can’t be choosers. He has a long way to go before he can revamp his image, with his tenure in Houston ending very ugly. (There was a strange power struggle. and while O’Brien didn’t come out looking the worst, he didn’t come out on top.) He will likely have to take a coordinator or assistant head coach role if he wants to jump back to the NFL. Belichick isn’t much into labels, but he did grant a tremendous amount of authority to McDaniels. Would he do the same with O’Brien? That might help sell O’Brien.
