'Loyalist': Will Patriots' O'Brien Follow Belichick?
Despite the New England Patriots just officially announcing Jerod Mayo as their next coach with their introductory press conference on Wednesday, that hasn't stopped him from hitting the ground running when it comes to hiring his coaching staff.
According to reports, the Patriots' new coach has already interviewed a potential assistant in current Carolina Panthers outside linebacker coach Tem Lukabu and has requested to meet with Atlanta Falcons special teams coordinator Marquise Williams.
However, there is still no clarity on arguably Mayo's most important coaching hire, the offensive coordinator role. Despite the Patriots coming off a disastrous 4-13 season in which their offense ranked near the bottom of the league in many statistical categories, it isn't a given that current play-caller Bill O'Brien is gone.
Yet, according to a report from the Boston Sports Journal's Mike Giardi, that could be the case anyway.
“The sense I get about the offensive coordinator spot is that a new voice will be running the show,” Giardi writes. “Bill O’Brien has a year remaining on his deal (Greg Bedard hears two years) and has enjoyed being back home, but he is considered a Belichick loyalist and may want to move on with the man who — in part — helped bring him back, or at least green-lit the return (in 2023)."
Giardi later added that he still believes O'Brien, at 54 years old, still holds head coaching aspirations.
With Bill Belichick being viewed as a serious candidate to replace Arthur Smith as the Atlanta Falcons coach, as evidenced by his interview with the franchise, O'Brien could have a new job fairly quickly.
This certainly wouldn't be surprising to see O'Brien leave Foxboro for the second time in his career, as a previous report named his one-time successor Josh McDaniels as a candidate to replace him again as the Patriots' offensive coordinator.
Yet, like O'Brien, McDaniels also has strong ties to Belichick, which could make him another candidate to follow him to Atlanta or his next job as the offensive coordinator.
