Bill O’Brien to the Patriots? Alabama OC reportedly a ‘strong option’ in 2023
After Bill Belichick made the surprising decision to elevate Matt Patricia into a de facto offensive coordinator position last offseason, it appears he could do the obvious thing in 2023.
According to the NFL Network, Bill O’Brien is a “strong option” to return to New England as the team’s offensive coordinator next year. O’Brien is currently finishing his second season as the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama under head coach Nick Saban, a Belichick confidant. O’Brien reportedly signed a two-year contract with Alabama in April 2021 and committed to coaching through the end of that deal.
The 53-year-old has long been rumored for an NFL return. O’Brien coached in New England from 2007-2011 and called offensive plays over his last three seasons with the Patriots. He left Foxboro to become the head coach at Penn State in 2012 and later the Texans, with whom he won four division titles in six-plus seasons.
O’Brien’s arrival would surely signal a shakeup to the offensive coaching staff, which Belichick, Patricia and quarterbacks coach Joe Judge have led for most of this year. That trio has come under constant fire since the offense underperformed almost from the moment it took the field in training camp.
Entering Saturday’s kickoff against the Bengals, the Pats averaged fewer than 19 offensive points per game, a bottom-10 mark across the NFL. They also ranked 32nd in red-zone production, 29th on third down and 25 by total yards. By Football Outsiders’ opponent-and-situation-adjusted metric, DVOA, the Patriots’ offense is the franchise’s worst since 1995.
In recent weeks, game broadcasts have caught second-year quarterback Mac Jones having mid-game outbursts toward the coaching staff. Against Buffalo on Dec. 1, Jones voiced his frustration with the play-calling in the second half of an eventual 24-10 loss. After that game, wide receiver Kendrick Bourne took aim at teammates and coaches, saying the team needed to have more urgency and “scheme up better” on third downs.
As for Jones, he addressed his outbursts Thursday and the perception that he blames coaching for the offense’s continue struggles.
“It’s not really about that. I think it’s more, like I said, the sense of urgency for just doing everything on time and in control and that’s something we preach here, from the coaches, from the players, from the whole staff is just trying to do everything right,” Jones said. “At the end of the day, that’s what is important is doing the right thing and getting to that point and holding everybody to that standard.
“As a quarterback, I can do a lot of things better, too. It always comes back to the quarterback, right?”
Jones did not overlap with O’Brien at Alabama, though the two met in the spring of 2021 when O’Brien was hired to run an offense Jones executed to unprecedented success. In 2020, Jones completed 77.4% of his passes for 4,500 yards, 41 touchdowns and four interceptions while leading the Crimson Tide over an undefeated national championship season.
It’s possible O’Brien could install some of the same college concepts Jones left behind at Alabama. Belichick, Patricia and Judge simplified the Patriots offense last spring. Unlike Judge, a first-year quarterbacks coach, O’Brien has years of experience developing passers, all the way back to 2001 when he coached at Georgia Tech, before leading quarterbacks rooms at Duke, New England, Penn State, Houston and Alabama.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/AZYN1d7
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