Patriots rectify mistakes of 2022 by hiring a familiar face

The New England Patriots checked off a big priority of the offseason by rehiring Bill O’Brien as the team’s next offensive coordinator.

The New England Patriots had massive offensive issues in 2022. After ranking sixth in points and 15th in yards in 2021, the team dropped to 17th and 26th in those categories, respectively, in 2022. They dropped from an average 2.54 points per drive to 1.63.

Many of those issues could be connected with a clear line to the play-calling conundrum for the Patriots in 2022. After Josh McDaniels took the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching position in the offseason, the Patriots took a committee-based approach to backfill the OC role. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge purportedly split the play-calling last year.

Quite frankly, it never really felt like that was a strategy ripe for high production in the first place. The Patriots found that out the hard way.

Some of the criticism has gone Mac Jones’ way in his sophomore season, but the quarterback deserves a chance under a stable offensive coordinator. The Patriots have welcomed Bill O’Brien back into the fold according to Adam Schefter and Chris Low, which should help a lot.

Patriots have hired Bill O’Brien back

This was a no-brainer hire that most of us saw coming from a mile away. O’Brien was with the team in various offensive roles from 2007-11. He called plays starting in 2009 and was officially named offensive coordinator in 2011 just before he left to take the head coaching role at Penn State.

Here was the team’s scoring rank in the league in the years O’Brien oversaw the play-calling:

1. 2009: 6th
2. 2010: 1st
3. 2011: 3rd

After Happy Valley, O’Brien would go on to coach the Houston Texans, and after he was fired he spent this past year as offensive coordinator for the Alabama Crimson Tide football program, backfilling Steve Sarkisian. The Tide will now turn to a new face in the role, the sixth time they’ve had to do so in the last eight years.

Now, he’s back in a familiar spot with a clear project in front of him. The Patriots have a quarterback who made the Pro Bowl in his rookie season that could use some consistency in the offense. O’Brien should be able to help provide that.