New England Patriots to hire Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator, per report

A familiar face is returning to the New England Patriots to run the offense for Bill Belichick.

Former Penn State and Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien – who was on Belichick's staff from 2007-11 – will be the new Patriots' offensive coordinator, according to ESPN.

O'Brien will assume play-calling duties that were handled by Matt Patricia, another ex-Belichick assistant who returned after a head-coaching, in 2022. The New England offense ranked 26th in yards per game and second-year quarterback Mac Jones regressed from a solid rookie season under quarterbacks coach Joe Judge, the former New York Giants head coach.

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For the past two seasons, O'Brien had been the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Alabama Crimson Tide under a different legendary coach, Nick Saban, who has his own long-running ties to Belichick.

Prior to that, O'Brien coached the Texans from 2014 through the first month of the 2020 season, when he was fired. He landed that job following two seasons at Penn State, his first head-coaching job, in the aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal.

O'Brien worked his way up through the Patriots ranks during his first stint of the organization, starting as a coaching assistant in 2007 and wide receivers coach in 2008. He coached quarterbacks, including Tom Brady, for the next two seasons. During his lone season as New England's offensive coordinator (2011), the Patriots averaged 32.1 points per game and advanced to the Super Bowl.

Follow Chris Bumbaca on Twitter @BOOMbaca.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Patriots to hire Bill O'Brien as offensive coordinator