Yes folks everything old is new again. If you believe what some are saying about Bill O'Brien. More on that later. After an exhausting search #Sarcasm Bill Belichick is bringing Bill O’Brien home to Foxboro. First reported by Adam Shefter. Bla bla bla . We all knew this was going to happen. Some of us, you included, knew this would be the outcome as far back as October. We screamed for it before Matty Patricia grabbed a clipboard that said offense,
O'Brien a Dorchester native joined the Patriots staff in 07. Like so many of his predecessors he worked his way up the Patriots coaching ladder. First he was an offensive assistant. Then it was WR coach. Finally Josh McDaniel headed for the high country of Denver to breathe the thin air in 09. Bill was made the QB coach and unofficial OC. The man earned his stripes here. And was deeply respected for it. After the 2011 season he took the head coaching job at Penn State guiding the team through the most turbulent time in its history. Before heading back to the NFL in 2013 to head coach and ultimately become the Houston Texans HC and GM in 2020. The same year he was fired after an 0-4 start. In 2021 he was named QB coach and OC of The Alabama Crimson tide. Where he has been until this announcement.
That brings us back to the open. Many here in New England call this an F.O.B. " Friend of Bill" an old boy hire. Or bill going with the familiar. Wondering aloud on pages if an influx of new thoughts and new ideas would serve the Patriots and Mac Jones better…. I think this is short sighted. Or better, narrow sighted. O'Brien comes back home to New England a very different coach than the one who left. To think he would leave to run operations at the highest of both the collegiate and pro levels and not learn a thing or fifty over those years is confusing to me to say the least. I believe now as I did nine months ago that O.B. is the best hire for this franchise and the best mentor for Maccorkle “ I want to be coached hard “ Jones going forward.
As always you can follow/give me grief on Twitter @Tmurph207