An ESPN rumor from late Thursday night stated that Bill O’Brien will be leaving New England to take over as Ohio State’s new offensive coordinator. The Patriots finished second in the league last season with an average of 13.9 points per game under O’Brien. In addition, O’Brien coached the quarterbacks, overseeing Mac Jones’ decline from a starting quarterback in his third year to a benched player for the final six games of the campaign.
While O’Brien was hired in January of last year, the offense that had collapsed under the leadership of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge, the previous primary offensive coordinators, in 2022, continued to deteriorate under his direction. O’Brien’s offensive staff also struggled with serious dysfunction; Adrian Klemm, the first-year offensive line coach, missed much of the season due to a medical condition, and one assistant left for Syracuse in the middle of the season.
O’Brien leaves while Jerod Mayo, the team’s new head coach, works to reassemble the coaching staff in his first season. After apparently starting searches for a new defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator, Mayo declined to comment at his inaugural press conference when asked if he will launch an offensive coordinator search. There aren’t any apparent internal contenders to take O’Brien’s post.
Mayo stated, “Everything’s still being considered.” It is evident that the personnel I have been collaborating with is not the ones I would have selected. Everything is being assessed. With all of my coaches, I would say that developing individuals is the most important thing.