The New England Patriots have an interesting path to navigate with the departure of Josh McDaniels, along with a few key offensive coaches.
Mac Jones is entering his second year in the NFL and he will have to adjust in a major way to the new offensive approach. Instead of bringing in an experienced offensive coordinator, Bill Belichick elected to put Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in charge.
It was an odd choice by Belichick considering the lack of experience both coaches have on the offensive side of the ball — despite the fact they were both head coaches.
Bill O’Brien was one of the biggest names this offseason to replace McDaniels and that would’ve made sense. O’Brien was previously the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, and he spent 2021 as the Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator.
He didn’t come in to take the job, but ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported that he was at the Patriots’ voluntary offseason workouts last week.
“Bill Belichick previously said the Patriots’ coaching staff was likely complete, but that doesn’t mean visitors won’t be welcomed at various times — and Belichick’s network is deep,” Reiss wrote in his Sunday column. “Along those lines, players took note of current Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien on the field at Gillette Stadium last week at the voluntary offseason program. O’Brien, of course, has deep roots in New England as a former Belichick assistant.”
Whether or not O’Brien was an active participant in practice or just there to observe wasn’t specified.
