Patriots-Bill O’Brien Reunion Possible In 2023?

The New England Patriots may be in the market for an established offensive coordinator heading into the 2023 NFL season.

FOXBORO — Following the departure of long-time offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, the New England Patriots were expected to seek the services of an experienced replacement from outside the organization.

One of the most prominent names discussed as a potential fit for the position was former Houston Texans head coach, current offensive coordinator of the Alabama Crimson Tide, and branch of the Bill Belichick coaching tree, Bill O’Brien.

Ultimately, New England elected not to pursue O’Brien, opting instead to use a ‘committee’ approach, headlined by offensive line coach Matt Patricia and quarterbacks coach Joe Judge.

Despite having been linked to a handful of potential collegiate openings, The Athletic reported on Sunday evening that O’Brien is strongly considering a return to the NFL coaching ranks.

In that vein, might a return to New England be in his future?

According to Patriots coach Bill Belichick, that appears to be a conversation for another day.

During his weekly appearance on WEEI's The Greg Hill Show on Monday morning, Belichick declined to comment on the report.

“I haven’t talked to Bill in a little while,” Belichick said. “So, I don’t know, I wouldn’t really want to comment on his situation. I think that’s something for him to comment on.”

Though he may be remembered for his recent struggles as both head coach and general manager of the Houston Texans, O’Brien is a quite accomplished offensive coach. In addition to his time with the Patriots, Texans and Crimson Tide, he spent two successful seasons at the helm of the Penn State Nittany Lions.

With McDaniels taking his talents to the Las Vegas Raiders, O'Brien was considered to be the most logical choice to succeed him. Despite the blemishes on his head coaching resume in Houston, O’Brien helped navigate a Patriots offense, which featured ball protection, efficient running and spreading the ball to multiple pass catchers; including a fearsome two-tight-end-set of Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. O’Brien was thought to be the ideal coach to find similar success with New England’s current tight-end-tandem of Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith.

He also has familiarity with an offensive system designed to accentuate the abilities of quarterback Mac Jones. Having spent the past pair of seasons as Alabama’s offensive coordinator under head coach Nick Saban, O’Brien ran a similar scheme for the Crimson Tide in 2021. This, combined with his previous experience working under Belichick, would lessen his initiation period with New England.

Ironically, the familiarity among the trio may have been what prevented O’Brien from returning to the organization prior to the start of the 2022 season. According to a previous report from Boston Sports Journal, Belichick’s close relationship with Alabama coach Nick Saban is likely to have precluded his request to interview O’Brien for the vacant offensive coordinator position.

However, recent reports have already begun to rekindle the flames in the Foxboro rumor mill … and for good reason.

Heading into 2022 without a designated coordinator was an odd strategy for the Patriots. To date, it has been met with mixed results, at best. Though it has not been the disaster some may have predicted, the Patriots offense is ranked 21st in yards, 18th in scoring and are 31st in red zone scoring percentage. As such, it may be safe to assume that the Patriots may not be abundantly eager to maintain the status-quo on offense in 2023.

Should, in fact, the Patriots and O’Brien be harboring any lingering interest in each other, it should not be a surprise. 

If so, a potential reunion between the two sides may make too much sense not to come to fruition. 

In the meantime, New England (6-5) continues to prepare for their Week 13 showdown with the Buffalo Bills (8-3) on Thursday. Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET from Gillette Stadium.

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Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots

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