No Ill Will, Bill? Patriots' Reunion With O'Brien 'In Play'
Roll Tide? The New England Patriots might hope not.
As the team seeks offensive clarity, namely under center with franchise quarterback and University of Alabama alum Mac Jones, they could turn to a known source to their plans back on the right track. Appearing on the Patriots' flagship station WBZ-FM, NBC Sports Boston's Albert Breer says that New England a reunion with Bill O'Brien "could be in play."
O'Brien, whose most recent NFL experience was a six-plus year stint as the Houston Texans' boss (2014-20), is currently the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach on Nick Saban's staff at Alabama. In Tuscaloosa, O'Brien has overseen the latest work of Bryce Young, the defending Heisman Trophy winner who is expected to be among the first quarterbacks chosen at the 2023 NFL Draft in Kansas City.
Such a reunion would likely be decided by the happening on the collegiate level: not only could O'Brien be asked to come back to Alabama but he'll likely emerge as a top head coaching candidate when the annual carousel starts to spin. For example, Breer listed the downtrodden University of Nebraska-Lincoln program.
"I would watch, really closely, what the college coaching carousel (does)," Breer said. "Billy O'Brien's name's been mentioned for some of these jobs ... If he has an opportunity with some of the college jobs and doesn't even interview, that tells you he wants to go back to the NFL. I think that that certainly might be in play."
Perhaps eager to keep some sort of continuity on the New England staff, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick turned to the tenured Matt Patricia for playcalling duties in Jones' crucial sophomore season at the helm. Patricia is working alongside another returnee, Joe Judge, as they more or less share the de facto offensive coordinator role.
Alas for the tandem, New England has primarily been sustained by defensive efforts, namely a fearsome pass rush. The Patriots (5-4) ranked 26th in total offense entering Week 11 action and Jones has not made any significant progress as a franchise man. O'Brien has worked in a variety of offensive roles with the Patriots over five seasons (2007-11) before taking the head coaching job at Penn State. If the Patriots were to move on from Patricia and Judge, Breer called O'Brien the "ideal" replacement.
New England returns to action on Sunday afternoon when they battle the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium (1 p.m. ET, CBS). O'Brien and the Crimson Tide, currently ranked eighth in the College Football Playoff standings, battle Austin Peay in their penultimate regular season game on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, ESPN+).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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