Offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien of the Alabama Crimson Tide could potentially reunite with the New England Patriots over the offseason.
O’Brien met with the Patriots on Thursday to potentially become their new offensive coordinator. O’Brien is “considered a top candidate” for the role, national insider for the NFL Network Ian Rapoport reported.
The #Patriots have interviewed #Bama OC Bill O’Brien today for their vacant OC job, sources say. He’s considered a top candidate.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 19, 2023
If the Patriots go on to hire O’Brien, it would mark the second time in his coaching career that he would be New England’s offensive coordinator. The last time O’Brien held the position was back during the 2011 NFL season, when he guided the Patriots to the Super Bowl. During O’Brien’s lone season as the Patriots’ offensive coordinator, he helped make New England’s offense thrive.
The 2011 Patriots offense ranked second in the NFL in yards per game with 428, and third in the league in points per game with 32.1, according to ESPN.
Following New England’s loss in Super Bowl XLVI to the New York Giants, O’Brien left New England to become the head coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions. In two seasons at Penn State, O’Brien lead the Nittany Lions to an overall record of 15-9, according to Pro Football History.
After his stint with Penn State, O’Brien signed a multi-year deal to become the head coach of the Houston Texans. O’Brien coached the Texans from 2014-2020, according to Pro Football Reference. He lead Houston to the postseason four times in his seven-year tenure but never made it past the second round of the playoffs. He coached the Texans to an overall record of 52-44 through his sixth season as the coach, before starting the 2020 NFL campaign 0-4 and getting fired.
O’Brien dusted himself off from his rugged 2020 campaign and inked a deal with the Alabama Crimson Tide in January 2021, as their new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. In O’Brien’s first season with Alabama, he had their offense scoring 39.8 points per game along with posting 488.2 yards each game on average, according to the team website. In his second season with Bama, which was this past year, he coached the Crimson Tide offense to an incredible 41 points per game on average and notched 477.2 yards each game. During his two-year stint on Bama’s coaching staff, the Crimson Tide would go 24-4 overall.
O’Brien could be the coach that Patriots’ quarterback Mac Jones needs to turn around his career and prevent it from going sour. Jones seemingly took a step back in his progression in 2022 after having a successful rookie campaign in 2021. Jones threw the football for less yards and less touchdown passes this season compared to his first year in the NFL, according to ESPN. His below-average performance played a role in the Patriots missing the postseason.
Jones was even benched for rookie backup Bailey Zappe about midway through the season after getting down big to the Chicago Bears during a game on Monday Night Football. (RELATED: Legendary Football Coach Tony Dungy Announces He’ll Attend March For Life For First Time)
Despite Jones going through a serious sophomore slump in 2022, I believe he’s still capable of turning things around and having a fantastic career. From watching him play, it appears that Jones is capable of making every single throw you need your quarterback to make. He can connect with his receivers throwing the football deep down the field or for short yardage. Despite what Patriots haters will say about him, I believe he’s an accurate passer and is still good.
If O’Brien were to come back to New England, I think he would maximize Jones’ talent and help make the Patriots a playoff team once again.