Patriots & Alabama OC Bill O’Brien Have Mutual Interest In Reunion

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport mentioned while making an appearance on WEEI’s “Gresh & Keefe” that there there is “mutual interest” between the Patriots and Alabama OC Bill O’Brien regarding their offensive coordinator vacancy, per Zack Cox of NESN. 

Rapoport added that New England typically acts “very, very slow” to fill coaching positions despite there being interest in O’Brien. 

“As far as Bill O’Brien, the NFL’s process is slow,” Rapoport said. “Everyone wants answers now, but the reality is the process is slow. So in order for the Patriots to hire Bill O’Brien — and I do believe there’s interest. I think there’s interest from them, and I think there’s interest from him, and a lot of times when that’s the case, these things end up working out. But they’ve got to go through a process. They have to interview multiple candidates. They have to interview candidates who are minorities. They have to go through all that.”

“So we are not there yet, and I would say typically, the Patriots work very, very slow on staffing. Like, I can remember many times they would go to the combine (in early March) and not be set on staffing. So I’m not sure that will happen imminently, but I do believe there’s mutual interest. And honestly, it just makes a lot of sense for all parties.”

Rapoport also said that Patriots HC Bill Belichick wanted to retain McDaniels but that believes the organization was fine going forward without its former offensive coordinator. 

“I know Bill Belichick wanted to keep Josh McDaniels, but this is definitely not like (2018, when McDaniels nearly left to take over the Indianapolis Colts),” Rapoport said. “This was not (Belichick) saying, ‘Hold on, hold on, let’s offer this.’ I think they understood and were OK with him going, which makes me think the Patriots are confident in whatever the backup plan is in New England.”

O’Brien, 52, was hired by the Texans back in 2014 after spending a few years at Penn State. O’Brien had one year remaining on his five-year contract when he signed a new five-year contract back in 2018. 

Alabama hired O’Brien as their offensive coordinator last year. O’Brien was with the Patriots from 2007-2011, beginning as an offensive assistant until becoming their offensive coordinator. 

During his seven years as Texans’ head coach, O’Brien led the team to a record of 52-48 (52 percent), which includes four trips to the playoffs and a 2-4 postseason record overall.