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7 likeliest offensive coordinator candidates for Patriots in 2023

Who will be the Patriots’ offensive coordinator in 2023?

Matt Patricia’s debut as the offensive play-caller for the New England Patriots hasn’t been a complete disaster, but it clearly hasn’t been good, either.

It’s been bad enough where Patriots fans are already twisting their brain into pretzels thinking up dream scenarios for a night in shining offensive armor to come galloping in and save the team.

But then they wake up, and it’s right back to the same offensive struggles we’ve seen throughout the season. So it’s no surprise the fun thing to do right now is look beyond 2022 and think of better days for the offensive play-calling.

Keep in mind, Patriots coach Bill Belichick typically isn’t the kind of coach to bring in outsiders as main assistants on either side of the ball. That tendency is the very reason why Patricia ended up with the offensive responsibilities after Josh McDaniels left for Las Vegas.

So we’re going to keep things realistic here with five legitimate candidates to serve as offensive coordinator for the Patriots in 2023.

NFL.com lists 4 Patriots assistants as future head coaching candidates

Four Patriots assistant named as future head coaching candidates.

The future is bright for the New England Patriots assistant coaching staff, as evident in NFL.com’s list of future head coaching candidates.

That giant sequoia that is Bill Belichick is still creating the most exciting up-and-coming talent in the league. Such is the case when you’re the greatest to ever do it.

But the rest of the football community has taken notice to the rising stars within the Patriots organization, including inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo (36), defensive line coach Demarcus Covington (33), tight ends coach Nick Caley (39) and Ross Douglas (27), who handles NFL coaching fellowship.

All four made Tom Pelissero’s list that was published on Thursday.

Mayo is obviously the name that stands out most considering the name he made for himself as a player before moving on to coaching the team. The former All-Pro linebacker is only coaching in his fourth year with the Patriots, and he has already had multiple head coaching interviews.

Covington is also an interesting name on the list considering the constant praise Patriots players have continued to heap on him.

“Head coach,” Patriots defensive lineman Davon Godchaux recently said on Covington. “He’s so detailed — great head coach one day.”

Meanwhile, Caley and Douglas are two more incredible up-and-coming talents that don’t get the recognition they deserve. So it was great to finally see them get some shine on this list as well.

Say whatever you want about the ongoing issues with Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas, but the future for assistant coaches in New England remains exceptionally radiant under Bill Belichick’s watch.

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Jonnu Smith explains what TEs coach Nick Caley excellent at his job

Tight end Jonnu Smith was complementary of Nick Caley on Friday.

One New England Patriots assistant coach may be on the rise heading into the season. Patriots tight end Jonnu Smith had praise for assistant coach Nick Caley on Friday afternoon.

Caley has been around the Patriots organization for several years, beginning his time with New England in 2015 as an offensive assistant. He received a promotion to tight ends coach in 2017.

He will have a chance to work with Hunter Henry and Smith among others. Smith in particular is looking to bounce back after a difficult 2021 season.

Smith met with the media after Friday’s practice, and was complementary of Caley’s potential.

“Nick is a hell of a coach and even a better person,” Smith said, via NESN’s Dakota Randall. “There’s not too many guys like Nick in this league. I’ve been around quite a few good ones, but he’s as hard of a worker as you’re gonna get. He’s gonna come, he’s gonna have his guys prepared every day, every game.

“And, you know, he just expects the best and demands the best out of his guys. It’s a blessing to be in the same room with the man. Nick — I’m sure great things will happen for him in the future.”

Caley will be tasked with getting more production out of the tight end room in 2022. Henry carried the group last season, and is in line for another productive year. It will be intriguing to see if Caley can help Smith get back on track after the tight end struggled last season.

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Report: Patriots blocked assistant coach from speaking with Raiders

Bill Belichick wasn’t willing to lose another coach to the Raiders following the departure Josh McDaniels and three offensive assistants.

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The New England Patriots are picking up the pieces this offseason following a max exodus of offensive assistant coaches.

Josh McDaniels was the first domino to fall when he became the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach and then he began poaching assistants immediately. Former wide receivers coach Mick Lombardi, offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo and offensive assistant Bo Hardegree joined the Raiders to fill out various positions.

The Raiders also hired former Patriots director of player personnel Dave Ziegler as their general manager.

Bill Belichick wasn’t going to watch another one of his assistants leave, so he reportedly blocked tight ends and fullback coach Nick Caley from taking an interview with the Raiders.

“Nick Caley’s role seems to be a little in flux,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported. “I’d expect he’ll have more responsibility in ’22. The Patriots blocked Caley from talking to the Raiders, and his role in New England this fall could dictate whether he stays put or goes to Las Vegas in ’23.”

Caley is viewed to be a potential offensive coordinator in the future and he admitted that it’s a goal of his during a press conference last week.

As of now, Joe Judge and Matt Patricia will handle the offensive play-calling responsibilities.

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5 options to be the next Patriots’ wide receiver coach

Five guys who could be the New England Patriots wide receivers coach in 2020.

Prior to the 2019 season, there had been a lot of consistency in the positional coaching ranks in New England. In one year, a lot of that changed. Defensive line coach Brendan Daly, who had been in New England since 2014, left for Kansas City. Brian Flores, who was in Foxboro since 2004, became the new head coach in Miami. There, he took assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski (2013-18), wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea (2009-18), and cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer (2006-18).

These moves left a lot of openings in New England. Daly was replaced by former Arkansas head coach Bret Bielema. Former Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo slid in for Flores. Mick Lombardi, son of former Patriots assistant Michael Lombardi, would take over for Schuplinski. Mike Pellegrino, previously an assistant, was promoted to replace Boyer. And, special teams coordinator Joe Judge took on a new role, becoming the wide receivers coach.

For obvious reasons, Judge was one of the coaches in the biggest spotlight. Working with Tom Brady’s weapons is always a job that will attract attention. So, it wasn’t a total surprise when a guy who had been in a successful organization for eight years and was finally getting some media coverage due to the extra duties was getting calls to be a head coach. This off-season, the New York Giants took a swing on Judge, once again leaving the Patriots with a hole in the coaching staff. Who could fill those shoes as the next wide receivers coach?

Chad O’Shea

O’Shea spent 10 seasons as the Patriots wide receivers coach. Last offseason, he left for Miami to make the jump to offensive coordinator for the first time in his career. The move didn’t exactly pan out the way he expected. With less than ideal weapons, the Dolphins would finish 25th in points per game (19.1) and 27th in yards per game (310).

Surprisingly, after only one season, O’Shea was fired. This decision was reportedly made because Flores wanted to separate himself from what he did in New England. If O’Shea wants to continue working and perfecting a Patriots-like system, maybe going back to New England would be best.

The red zone struggles the Patriots had this year could certainly be helped by the man who was “incredibly responsible for any and all of our success in the red zone,” as Josh McDaniels put it in 2018. O’Shea could be used to help guys like N’Keal Harry and Mohamed Sanu find their roles in the scoring offense, and that’s something that would be extremely important to the future success of the team.

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