Kadlick: Bringing Bill O’Brien Back to New England Can Change the Patriots Fortunes in 2023

FOXBORO, Mass. – Is a Christmas Miracle coming to New England? Could Bill Belichick’s New Year’s resolution be actually fixing the Patriots’ offense heading into next season?

It’s looking like that may be the case – as the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported this morning that Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is emerging as an option as the Patriots offensive coordinator for 2023. Rapoport says that sources tell him, “O’Brien is a strong option to return to his former home and assume his old role as OC under Bill Belichick for next season. This would be a potential answer to an important question facing the Patriots in the future.”

Last month, when it was reported by The Athletic’s Jeff Schultz that O’Brien is “considering NFL options” for 2023, I wrote about how detrimental it was that O’Brien didn’t return at beginning of this season:

When Josh McDaniels left New England to become the Raiders head coach, many speculated that O’Brien would leave Tuscaloosa to return to his former role as Patriots offensive coordinator. He spent five years coaching the Patriots from 2007-2011 before becoming Penn State’s head coach in 2012.

New England instead opted to fill the hole with a combination of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, which has been an abject failure – to put it lightly. The Patriots rank just 21st in yards-per-game with 321.9 and 19th in points-per-game with 21.7.