Alabama OC Bill O'Brien Denies New England Patriots Reports

The Crimson Tide's offensive coordinator stated that he and his staff are solely focused on the Sugar Bowl despite reports connecting him to the OC position with the New England Patriots.

Joey Blackwell | Dec 28, 2022

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Alabama Crimson Tide

NEW ORLEANS — Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien has not had any contact with the New England Patriots organization since he visited the team's facilities back in April.

On Wednesday, O'Brien fielded questions from reporters as the Crimson Tide prepares for its matchup in the Sugar Bowl against the Kansas State Wildcats. During his press conference, the question regarding his potential departure to the Patriots arose.

Last weekend, NFL Network reported that O'Brien was considered as a "strong option" by the Patriots as a candidate for offensive coordinator in 2023. NBC Sports Boston followed up with their own report on the matter this week.

Following the 2022 season, O'Brien's two-year contract as Alabama's OC is set to expire. However, O'Brien denied the rumors and stated that he has had no contact with the Patriots since April.

"It’s kind of that time of the year when things come up and things pop up," O'Brien said. "I haven’t spoken to anybody in New England since probably last April when I went by and saw those guys when I was up there. I wish them well their last however many games they have left, but we’re very focused on this game and focused on coaching this team to the best of our ability."

O'Brien also stated that his primary focus — as well as the focus of his coaches and players — has been solely on the Sugar Bowl.

"I will tell you that the focus for me and for this coaching staff and for these players has really been on these games that we're playing," O'Brien said. "This game coming up, the games that we played this year, the games that we played last year. I think those things, almost every year I’ve been in coaching — at least over the last 12 years for me — have come up a lot. And those are things that are addressed after the season.

"We are very focused on this game. We’ve been focused on every game we’ve played here this year — and last year."

O'Brien's ties to the OC position at New England first arose back in January when Josh McDaniels left the position to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite the apparent connection, O'Brien denied that he had considered the position.

The Patriots replaced McDaniels with former defensive coordinator and Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia. This season, however, New England's offensive production has fallen dramatically from sixth in points in 2021 down to 16th, and from 15th to 24th in total offensive yards.

O'Brien was hired as Alabama's offensive coordinator following the departure of Steve Sarkisian to Texas at the end of the 2020 season. During Sarkisian's last season, the Crimson Tide averaged over 540 yards per game and scored an average of 48.5 points per game.

Under O'Brien in 2022, on the other hand, Alabama is 13th in college football in yards per game with 475.5 and fourth in points at 40.8.

O'Brien, a Massachusetts native, was hired by New England in 2007 after serving 13 years as an assistant coach at the college level. After serving as the team's offensive play caller from 2009-11, he moved back to college as the head coach of Penn State from 2012-13. He then returned back to the NFL as the head coach of the Houston Texans from 2014-20.

On top of addressing if he had made any contact with any NFL organizations — New England or otherwise — O'Brien insisted that his focus remains at Alabama and that no NFL teams have come calling.

“I have a lot of friends in the NFL, so the answer would be yes to that,” O’Brien said. “I have a lot of coaching friends in the NFL, so yeah, they’re some of my closest friends. But relative to working in the NFL, no. And relative to working here, like I said, I love it here. I love my experience here. I’m very focused on this game coming up, and then whatever conversations happen after this game, those will take place when they take place.

"Really just really focused on this game and doing as good a job as I can with the players and the coaching staff to have a productive offense on Saturday."

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