Simply put, the New England Patriots have some work to do to rebuild the coaching staff on offense.
Josh McDaniels, who took the Las Vegas Raiders head-coaching job, was the first domino to fall. Then followed assistant quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree, wide receivers coach Mick Lombardi and offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo — all joining the Raiders.
The only real clarity on replacements for these departures is the return of Joe Judge, who’s taking the role of an offensive assistant. Judge, formerly the Patriots’ special teams coordinator, left for two seasons to coach the New York Giants. He finished with a 10-23 record and as it currently stands, he’s better off in an assistant coaching role.
Judge coached defense early in his career and has primarily spent time as a special teams coach over the past decade. His expertise isn’t with offense and he’ll need help while navigating this new role.
Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien seemed like a strong candidate, having spent a year as the Patriots offensive coordinator in 2011. But it doesn’t appear the Patriots will bring him in as their next offensive coordinator. NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport shut that idea down by saying it will reportedly be Judge’s offense — and that New England will go without an offensive coordinator. They split the duties into a committee.
This is where Matt Patricia’s name could come into the fold.
Outside of Patricia’s three-year head coaching stint with the Detroit Lions, he’s been a loyal confidant to Bill Belichick since 2004. His first two years as an NFL coach were with the Patriots as an offensive assistant and assistant offensive line coach. He had the experience on the offensive side of the ball for three years in Detroit with Matthew Stafford, who just won a Super Bowl, in his locker room.
Patricia is currently a senior football advisor for the Patriots, but his background is on the sidelines and in the mix as a coach. Despite having less experience on the defensive side of the ball, Patricia and Judge have institutional knowledge and the trust of Belichick.
These factors are extremely important when it comes to shaping a young quarterback, like Mac Jones, and cultivating an offense that compliments the Patriots’ defense. Rapoport also reported that Belichick could play a role in offensive play-calling, similar to what he does on defense currently. But the Patriots clearly need more experience on the offensive side of the ball. While Patricia doesn’t have offensive-specific, he does have plenty of coaching experience in a number of roles, from head coach to defensive coordinator to positional coach. Perhaps he’d bring stability to that offensive staff.
It’s difficult to anticipate or predict Belichick’s next move, but he could take the coaches he trusts to spearhead the offensive operation while elevating assistant coaches to help develop Jones and fill the necessary roles.
Fortunately, the Patriots retained Jerod Mayo and the defensive side has continuity. Belichick’s biggest priority is handling the 16 unrestricted free agents and building an offensive coaching staff that he believes in.
Patricia could be a necessary piece to build on the latter.
