Bill Belichick issues brief statement addressing Bill O'Brien's hire originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
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The New England Patriots have hired Bill O'Brien as their offensive coordinator.
This isn't breaking news, obviously. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported (and our Phil Perry confirmed) Tuesday morning that O'Brien was joining the Patriots' staff. On Wednesday, the Shrine Bowl's social media account announced that O'Brien will represent the Patriots at the annual college football showcase.
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But the Patriots waited until Thursday morning to make O'Brien's hiring officially official, noting he'll be the team's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2023.
The Patriots' announcement of O'Brien's hire included a statement from head coach Bill Belichick -- who kept things short and sweet.
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"I am looking forward to working with Bill again," Belichick said in the statement. "He is an outstanding coach and an asset to our staff."
O'Brien's first NFL coaching job came in New England, where he started as an offensive assistant in 2007 and worked his way up to offensive coordinator under Belichick in 2011. O'Brien took the Penn State head coach job in 2013, spent six-plus seasons as the Houston Texans' head coach from 2014 to 2020 and was Alabama's offensive coordinator in 2021 and 2022 before returning to Foxboro.
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It's notable that O'Brien also will serve as the team's quarterbacks coach, a role held by Joe Judge in 2022. An eye-opening report from the Boston Herald on Thursday revealed that quarterback Mac Jones didn't get along well with Judge while also detailing Matt Patricia's shortcomings in his debut as an offensive play-caller.
Our Tom E. Curran and Phil Perry have both reported that some within the Patriots don't think Patricia will be back in 2023, and perhaps Judge will be moving on as well with O'Brien assuming the roles of both coaches in 2023.
