Patriots HC Bill Belichick makes big decision on offensive play-calling

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is handing the reins back over to offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien for that side of the ball, according to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated.

"(Belichick is) mostly delegating all things offense to his new/old coordinator, in a siloed-off model that feels, to those there, much more like how things were when Josh McDaniels was around a couple of years ago," Breer wrote.

O'Brien is beginning his second stint with the Patriots after holding various coaching roles on offense from 2007-11. During his first run with New England, the team made four playoff appearances and two Super Bowls, losing both to the New York Giants.

O'Brien was an offensive assistant during the historic 2007 campaign that ended one win short of a perfect season, served as the wide receivers coach in 2008, the quarterbacks coach in 2009 and 2010, and was the offensive coordinator in 2011. With O'Brien as offensive coordinator, the Patriots finished second in the NFL in passing yards and third in total offense.

Since he left New England more than a decade ago, the now-53-year-old has served as the head coach at Penn State and of the Houston Texans, as well as the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Without O'Brien, the Patriots still produced top-10 offenses every year until Tom Brady departed ahead of the 2020 season. Over the last three years, the team has finished 27th, sixth and 17th in total offense with Josh McDaniels as the offensive coordinator in 2020 and 2021 and no labeled OC last season.

Joe Judge and Matt Patricia were the quarterbacks coach/offensive assistant and offensive line coach/senior advisor, respectively, in 2022. Judge is still with the organization as an offensive assistant, while Patricia is now the senior defensive assistant with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Early reports from Patriots OTAs are that the installation of O'Brien has been a positive for third-year quarterback Mac Jones.

The former Crimson Tide quarterback was a Pro Bowler as a rookie in 2021 but battled injuries and poor play in his sophomore campaign. He finished the 2022 season with a 65.2% completion percentage, 2,997 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 14 games (all starts), while his quarterback rating dropped nearly eight points to 84.8.