O’brien speaks on rejoining team as offensive coordinator

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The Patriots and Bill O’brien agreed Tuesday to make him their next offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

On Thursday the team officially announced his hiring.

On Friday O’brien made his first public comments about the hiring in a video posted to the team’s website.

“I’ve had a lot of different experiences, you know, but at the end of the day the opportunity to come back here presented itself, and it was something I couldn’t pass up,” O’brien said. “So [I] hope maybe I can bring some of those experiences to the table here and help our football team.”

The 53-year-old coach is expected to elevate the Patriots offense after its worst season ever under Bill Belichick.

The Pats averaged 18.1 offensive points per game, while O’brien finished his second and final season as the offensive coordinator at the University of Alabama. O’brien’s return to New England is a homecoming on multiple fronts.

An Andover, Mass., native, he took his first NFL job with the Patriots in 2007.

Two years later he was promoted to quarterbacks coach and offensive playcaller. O’brien spent the next nine years as the head coach at Penn State and in Houston with the Texans, who fired him in Oct. 2020.

“Having worked here before, having grown up here — [it’s] just a great opportunity for my family,” O’brien said. “[I’m] very excited. Yeah, very excited.”

Judge to return in new role per report:

Former Patriots quarterbacks coach Joe Judge will return to the coaching staff next season in a role yet to be determined, according to a report from The Athletic’s Jeff Howe.

Judge could return to coaching special teams, where he served as an assistant from 2012-14 and a coordinator from 2015-19.

Last season Patriots quarterback Mac Jones regressed statistically under Judge’s tutelage. The two often clashed, according to sources, with Judge’s lack of experience as an offensive coach an issue.

Prior to last season, Judge had one year of offensive coaching experience in his career, when he split his time as the Patriots’ special teams coordinator and wide receivers coach.

According to a source, Matt Patricia is undecided on his future with the team.

Patricia did not travel with the rest of the staff to Las Vegas for the East-west Shrine Bowl, where coaches are working with college prospects through an annual draft showcase. Patricia is coming off his first and only season as the Patriots’ de facto offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.