3 paths Jerod Mayo could take to find the Patriots’ next offensive coordinator

COMMENTARY:

Bill Belichick is no longer the head coach of the Patriots, and Jerod Mayo has officially been named his successor.

Now that Mayo is in place, it’s time to begin filling out his staff. New England has reportedly begun interviewing candidates for defensive coordinator and special teams coach.

But, the Patriots’ most glaring weakness is on offense. They tied for dead last in the NFL in scoring. They’ll need to decide which coach will lead that part of the team going forward.

All of Mayo’s experience as both a player and a coach is on the defensive side of the ball. He played linebacker for the Patriots for eight seasons. In 2019, he joined the Patriots’ coaching staff as a linebackers coach. He stayed in that position until New England announced that he would succeed Belichick.

The person Mayo picks to run the offense will play an important role in his success as head coach. The coaching search could play out in a few different ways. Here are three potential paths New England could take.

Bill O’Brien stays

Right now, the Patriots’ offensive coordinator is Bill O’Brien.

The Dorchester native is in his second stint with the Patriots. Previous roles he has held within the organization include quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach, and offensive assistant.

He’s been an offensive coordinator with the Patriots for two seasons. His first was in 2011 when the Patriots went 13-3 and finished third in the league in scoring at 32.1 points per game. Of course, Tom Brady was at the helm then, throwing passes to Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker, and Deion Branch among others.

O’Brien struggled in his second stint this past season. He was brought on to unlock Mac Jones’s potential after a promising rookie season was followed by a disastrous sophomore year. Jones wound up losing the starting job to Bailey Zappe, and the Patriots finished in the bottom five of the league in points per game (13.9), yards per game (276.2), and turnover differential (-11).

O’Brien has a dearth of experience both at the NFL and college levels. He has a winning record as a head coach (52-48 over six seasons) and Houston won four AFC South titles while he was there. He took over as Penn State head coach after Joe Paterno and was briefly offensive coordinator at Alabama under Nick Saban.

He’s only been in New England for one season this time around, and it would seem a bit awkward to get rid of him with so little time in his current role.

But, the NFL is a results-driven business and the Patriots had arguably the worst offense in the league during O’Brien’s watch. Even though Jerod Mayo played on that 2011 Patriots team during O’Brien’s first stint, he might choose to go in a different direction.

Patriots bring in a familiar face

During the Belichick era, familiarity played a huge role in who the Patriots hired for assistant coach roles.

Take the coaching staff from this past season for example. Two of Belichcick’s sons were on the staff. They brought O’Brien back after a 12-year absence. offensive line coach Adrian Klemm was the first player Belichick selected as head coach of the Patriots in 2000. The list goes on and on.

Things could play out differently under Mayo, but there is a chance the Patriots continue to stick with familiar faces.

One name to keep an eye on in this scenario is the recently fired Josh McDaniels, who is coming off of his second stint as a head coach. McDaniels began his NFL career with the Patriots in 2001 and rose the ranks to become offensive coordinator. He left to coach the Broncos and had a brief stint with the Rams. When things didn’t work out, he came back for eight more seasons as Patriots offensive coordinator.

He was on all six of the Patriots’ Super Bowl championship teams. The offense put up historic numbers under McDaniels with Brady as quarterback. McDaniels was the one who replaced O’Brien last time when O’Brien went to Penn State.

There are also a few former Patriots assistants who have recently interviewed for offensive coordinator positions with other teams including Rams tight-ends coach Nick Caley, and Browns receivers coach Chad O’Shea.

Shane Waldron, a former Patriots tight-ends coach is currently offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks.

Kliff Kingsbury, whom the Patriots drafted in the sixth round as a quarterback in 2003, took a job as an offensive analyst at USC after a stint as Cardinals head coach.

Rams offensive coordinator Zac Robinson was also drafted by the Patriots in 2010, which was Mayo’s third season in the league.

Patriots go in a completely different direction

Mayo could also choose to switch things up completely and bring in someone from outside the organization he feels comfortable with.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that he expects the Patriots to conduct an “open search” to find their next offensive coordinator.

The Athletic listed Commanders offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy as an “oustide the box option.” Bieniemy won a pair of Super Bowls as the Chiefs’ offensive coordinator in recent years, but struggled after taking the same position with Washington last year.

The Athletic also mentioned former Rams offensive coordinator Liam Coen, a 38-year-old Rhode Island native who is now Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. He recently coached Titans quarterback Will Levis at Kentucky, and is a UMass alum. Former Giants receiver Victor Cruz was his roommate.

Back when Mike Vrabel was considered a candidate for New England’s head coaching job, MassLive’s Mark Daniels said it would be interesting to see if the Patriots went for Arthur Smith, who was his offensive coordinator in Tennessee. Smith was most recently the Falcons head coach, but has been fired and Belichick has already interviewed for the job opening.