Sources: O’Brien returns to Patriots as brand-new OC

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.– Bill O’Brien will return to the New England Patriots after accepting an offer Tuesday to become their next offensive planner, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Low.O’Brien, 53, who spent the past two seasons as the offending planner under Nick Saban at Alabama, now is back to where his NFL career began in 2007 as a training assistant.In that first stint

in New England, O’Brien quickly rose through the ranks on Expense Belichick’s personnel to quarterbacks coach and offensive organizer, spending three years (2009-11)in that role prior to leaving for head-coaching positions with Penn State(2012-13) and the Houston Texans( 2014-20 ). A Massachusetts local, O’Brien will be charged with enhancing a Patriots offense that dipped notably in most key locations in 2022, consisting of: – Red zone performance: 11th( 39 TDs in 63 trips)

to 32nd( 19 TDs in 45 journeys)- Third-down performance: 10th (43.5%)

to 27th(34.8%)- Very first downs: connected for ninth (362)

to 28th(288 )- Sacks permitted: eighth (28 for

241 yards )to 19th (41 for 279 backyards)- Touchdowns scored

: 48 to 31 Belichick didn’t call an official offending planner for the Patriots in 2022, leaning on Matt Patricia as the primary playcaller despite Patricia’s mostly defensive background in his NFL career.Editor’s Picks 1 Associated Belichick also oversaw a streamlining of the offense– altering the blocking terms for offending linemen– in which among his goals was to produce more big plays down the field.But the desired results never ever pertained to fruition, causing the Patriots, who are notoriously tight-lipped about their intents, publicly revealing on Jan. 12 that they would be speaking with for an offending coordinator.In addition to O’Brien, the Patriots likewise spoke with existing New England tight ends coach Nick Caley, Minnesota Vikings pass receivers coach Keenan McCardell, Arizona Cardinals assistant head coach Shawn Jefferson and Oregon associate head coach/offensive line/run-game coordinator Adrian Klemm about the job.Upon landing at Alabama, where he worked closely with quarterback Bryce Young, O’Brien had also hung out with present Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, who helped O’Brien learn the Tide offense in the months following Jones ‘final season

with Alabama.With O’Brien headed back to the NFL, Saban will be trying to find his sixth different offending organizer in the past eight seasons. The previous five– Steve Sarkisian, Mike Locksley, Brian Daboll, Lane Kiffin and O’Brien– are all now either NFL head coaches or offending coordinators

or Power 5 head coaches.Saban also is looking for a defensive coordinator after Pete Golding left for the same position at Ole Miss earlier this month. The last time Saban brought in two new planners in the exact same year wanted the Crimson Tide’s 2017 championship game season.