FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill O’Brien will return to the New England Patriots after agreeing to a deal on Tuesday to become their next offensive coordinator, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Low.
The 53-year-old O’Brien, who spent the last two seasons as offensive coordinator under Nick Saban in Alabama, is now returning to where his NFL career began in 2007 as an assistant coach.
In that first stint in New England, O’Brien quickly rose through the ranks from Bill Belichick’s staff to quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator, spending three years (2009-11) in that role before joining Penn State (2012) as head coach – 13) and the Houston Texans (2014-20).
The Massachusetts native O’Brien will be tasked with improving a Patriots offense that has declined significantly in 2022 in most key areas, including:
• Red Zone Efficiency: 11th (39 TDs in 63 trips) to 32nd (19 TDs in 45 trips)
• Third Down Efficiency: 10th (43.5%) to 27th (34.8%)
• First Downs: Place 9 (362) to 28 (288)
• Sacks allowed: 8th (28 for 241 yards) through 19th (41 for 279 yards)
• Touchdowns scored: 48 to 31
Belichick did not appoint an official offensive coordinator for the Patriots in 2022 and relied on Matt Patricia as the primary playcaller in his NFL career despite Patricia’s mostly defensive background.
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Belichick also oversaw an offense streamline—changing blocking terminology for offensive linemen—where one of his goals was to produce more big plays on the field.
But the desired results never materialized, leading to the Patriots, notoriously silent about their intentions, publicly announcing on Jan. 12 that they were interviewing for an offensive coordinator.
In addition to O’Brien, the Patriots also spoke to current New England tight ends coach Nick Caley, Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell, Arizona Cardinals assistant head coach Shawn Jefferson, and associate head coach Adrian /Offensive Line/Oregon Klemm Run Game Coordinator on the job.
After landing in Alabama, where he worked closely with quarterback Bryce Young, O’Brien had also spent time with current Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, who helped O’Brien in the months following Jones’ final season with Alabama, the Tide -offense to learn.
With O’Brien returning to the NFL, Saban will be looking for his sixth different offensive coordinator in the last eight seasons. The previous five – Steve Sarkisian, Mike Locksley, Brian Daboll, Lane Kiffin and O’Brien – are all now either NFL head coaches or offensive coordinators or Power 5 head coaches.
Saban is also looking for a defense coordinator after Pete Golding left earlier this month for the same position at Ole Miss. The last time Saban brought on two new coordinators in the same year was after the 2017 Crimson Tide national championship season.