The coaching exodus continues as two more Patriots assistants are joining former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels’s coaching staff with the Raiders.
According to multiple reports, former Patriots wide receivers coach Mick Lombardi and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo are headed west.
Bricillo is making a lateral move as Vegas’ offensive line coach, while Lombardi is taking a promotion as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator.
The two former Pats position coaches join Raiders quarterback’s coach, Bo Hardegree, leading to nearly a complete overhaul on the offensive side of the ball for New England.
Internally, former Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown is an obvious choice to replace Lombardi as the wide receivers coach after serving as an offensive assistant since 2019.
Bill Belichick also has an internal option to replace Bricillo in assistant offensive line coach Billy Yates, who played seven seasons in the NFL and is held in high regard by the players in the O-Line room.
Although he recently became the offensive line coach at Troy University, former co-offensive line coach Cole Popovich is another potential replacement for Bricillo if the Pats convince him to walk away from his current position.
Last week, the Patriots officially added former Giants head coach Joe Judge as an offensive assistant in a role expected to come with offensive coordinator-like responsibilities.
But with the expected retirement of long-time running backs coach Ivan Fears, the Pats are starting over on offense from a coaching perspective.
New England will have a new offensive play-caller, quarterbacks coach, running backs coach, wide receivers coach, and offensive line coach next season.
The lone holdovers are Brown, Yates, tight ends coach Nick Caley, assistant running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri, along with the addition of Judge.
Speaking to those around the team, Caley is another assistant expected to take on more responsibility in the wake of McDaniels’s departure. And league sources expect Belichick to add at least one more external hire on offense to fill the void.
Still, McDaniels poaching former Pats assistants and leaving a giant hole at offensive coordinator is a significant brain drain to the operation in Foxboro.
We’ll continue to monitor the shuffling on the Patriots’ coaching staff.
