Why Both Alabama and New England Fans are Pleased with Bill O'Brien Move: All Things CW
In this story:
The All Things CW notes column by Christopher Walsh appears in five parts each week, with the latest on the Alabama Crimson Tide. This is ...
Take 5
You know the saying about how one man's trash is another man's treasure?
That's a little extreme for this discussion, but it's part of everyday life in the coaching world, where success can be influenced by so many things, even with a team like the Alabama Crimson Tide.
Chances are if you were on social media this week the reaction to Bill O'Brien being named the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots caught your attention. Let's just say that a lot of it was very favorable.
However, the same was true with Patriots fans, especially coming off an unusual 8-9 season and third-place finish in the AFC East. New England ranked 17th in the league with 21.4 points per game.
On Thursday, the Boston Herald posted a story about how bad things got behind the scenes, with the headline: "Inside the most dysfunctional Patriots season under Bill Belichick: ‘I’ve never seen anything like it.’"
According to multiple sources who spoke to the Herald anonymously, the offensive woes dated back to training camp. Per the report, the Patriots attempted to play faster offensively by condensing formations and incorporating more outside zone runs and bootleg play-action passes.
Yet as the season progressed, New England’s offense became a diminished version of former offensive play-caller Josh McDaniels, the current Raiders head coach, along with portions of Sean McVay’s system with the Rams.
The disconnect and frustration filtered into meetings, as players would get into the details about how to break down certain defenses on the field.
“Guys would ask, ‘Well, what’s going to happen if [the defense] does this?’ And you would see they [coaches] hadn’t really accounted for that yet,” one source told the Herald. “And they’d say, ‘We’ll get to that when we get to that.’
"That type of attitude got us in trouble.”
When quarterback Mac Jones went down with a high ankle sprain in October, a broader disconnect emerged between quarterbacks coach Joe Judge and offensive play-caller Matt Patricia, along with a lesser presence by Judge in position coach meetings, per the Herald.
Previously, Judge would command meetings and share play-calling sheets with Patricia and Belichick. But as New England continued to face scrutiny each week, it was not uncharacteristic for “Judge and Jones to trade profanity-laced” jabs, according to the Herald.
Another source told the newspaper, “A lot of people were frustrated with Judge.”
So with all that in mind, here are five things that caught our attention this week:
1) Jones reportedly pleased
There have already been reports out of New England that Jones is really happy with O'Brien's return, and the coach indicated at the Sugar Bowl that they already have worked together some while he was learning the Crimson Tide's system.
Note: That's a key to O'Brien that most Alabama fans have forgotten, he wasn't running his own offense under Nick Saban.
“I think the most challenging thing for me was, when I came in here, learning this offense,” O’Brien said. “And I had a lot of people help me, people that were here before, guys on the coaching staff, obviously Bryce [Young]. I’ve said before, Mac Jones, when he was working out for the draft, helped me a little bit, which was great. So I’m really thankful to those people.”
2) The Gronk seal of approval
Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski appeared on the Up & Adams show and explained why O’Brien was the best hire for the Patriots, especially since he'd already been with the team from 2007-11, including a year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach (2011).
“I love Bill O’Brien. I loved playing for him. I love the energy that he brings to the table,” Gronkowski said. "His football knowledge is through the roof, and I believe that he’s definitely going to restore the Patriot faithful on the offensive side of the ball.
“He’s going to put his players in the best position to make plays, and he’s going to come up with some creative ideas. And I think they’re definitely going to improve as an offense tremendously under coach Bill O’Brien. That’s who the Patriots had to get. They had to get Bill O’Brien. …I hope they paid head coach money for him, because they definitely had to.”
3) This could be a pre-draft trend
Safety Jordan Battle pulling out of next week's Senior Bowl will probably be the beginning of some former Crimson Tide players not participating in various pre-draft workouts and testing, especially since none of the then-departing players opted out of the Sugar Bowl.
Alabama appears to have two solid top-five talents in Will Anderson Jr. and Bryce Young, and two players who are hoping to squeeze into the first round with safety Brian Branch and running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Everyone already knows what the first two can do, and next two will see their destinations largely determined by team needs. They probably can't improve their draft stock.
After that, who knows? Which is why tight end Cameron Latu, offensive linemen Emil Ekiyor Jr. and Tyler Steen, defensive linemen DJ Dale and Byron Young, linebacker Henry To’oTo’o and safety DeMarcco Hellams are still set to head to Mobile next week to work with NFL coaches.
Through Battle in the mix, and just about all of them could go anywhere between the lower second round, and maybe the fifth round. But not even they will do everything for scouts.
The NFL combine will be held February 28–March 6, and your guess is as good as anyone's for how many former Crimson Tide players might participate in any drills or do anything outside of interviews. The same goes for Alabama's Pro Day.
4) NFL awards
If there's one drawback to the Associated Press changing its voting system for the NFL Awards, and announcing top five finalists for MVP, and the final three for the other awards, it makes it pretty easy to tell who the winners will be.
The good news among former Crimson Tide players and coaches is that Brian Daboll will probably named coach of the year after his first season guiding the New York Giants.
The bad news is that it looks like Jalen Hurts will get left out of the major awards. Patrick Mahomes is the clear favorite to be named MVP ahead of Joe Burrow, with Hurts third ahead of Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson.
However, Jefferson is considered the frontrunner for offensive player of the year ahead of Hurts and Mahomes.
5) Talk about a swing and a miss
You probably had the same reaction as everyone else when SEC coaches voted Alabama to finish fourth in the league this season.
How long do you think it'll be before Patrick Murphy has that prominently displayed in the Crimson Tide clubhouse?
See Also:
Take 1: Tale of the Tape, No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Alabama
Take 2: Initial Hot Board for Alabama Offensive Coordinator
Take 3: Give Credit to the Man Who Aimed to Make Alabama a Basketball School
