jones and mego: Mike Kadlick joins the Jones and Mego show to talk Jerod Mayo press conference
Jerod Mayo is hard at work just under a week into his tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots.
According to multiple reports, he’s already begun a search for both a defensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator and, per SI’s Albert Breer, he’ll be adding a full search for the team’s next offensive coordinator to his to-do list.
“Everything is under consideration,” Mayo said on Wednesday during his introductory press conference when asked what New England’s plan is at OC. “Obviously, the staff that I've been working with isn't the staff that I have chosen. But everything is under evaluation.”
So let’s run with it. Here are five potential, and realistic, offensive coordinator candidates the Patriots could interview and hire ahead of the 2024 season:
Bill O’Brien - Patriots offensive coordinator
New England’s current offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, according to Albert Breer, will “likely” be included in New England’s search, but could also “wind up going with [Bill] Belichick,” wherever he coaches next season.
The Patriots’ offense struggled mightily under O’Brien’s lead in 2023. They scored just 13.9 points per game (last in the NFL), gained just 276.2 yards per game (30th in the NFL), and their quarterback in Mac Jones, after throwing 12 interceptions through 11 starts, was benched for backup Bailey Zappe.
“I don't think he's the No. 1 to blame,” O’Brien said of Jones and his performance this season. “If you want to blame anybody, blame me. I'm the one that designs it and it's not going very well.”
He’s not wrong and, while he was certainly handed the short end of the stick with personnel and the inability to build his own staff, O’Brien will still have plenty of questions to answer if he does interview for his job back.
Note: Bill O'Brien will not be returning to the Patriots in 2023. He's headed to Ohio State to become the Buckeye's offensive coordinator. More here.
Josh McDaniels - former Patriots offensive coordinator
Another name to watch in New England’s search is former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.
McDaniels, a six-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots, coached in Foxborough from 2001-2008 and then again from 2012-2021 before trekking to Las Vegas to become the Raiders head coach. He was fired in Sin City this past October.
Notably, McDaniels has been in the area recently. He was spotted at the Patriots' season finale vs. the Jets on January 7th, and was also in attendance at last Thursday’s press conference when Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick announced their parting of ways.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garofolo, McDaniels will be “at the top” of Jerod Mayo's list of offensive coordinator candidates if they decide to move on from O’Brien.
While there’s a good chance that he too could follow Belichick to his next destination, it’s worth keeping an eye on given the reporting.
Keenan McCardell - Vikings wide receivers coach
When the Patriots went away from Matt Patricia as their play caller last offseason and opened an offensive coordinator search, one of the first candidates they requested to interview was Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell.
McCardell works under Minnesota head coach Kevin O'Connell, a Sean McVay disciple, and alongside perennial All-Pro Justin Jefferson. He’s been a wide receivers coach in the NFL since 2010 and also played the position. More specifically, he played under Bill Belichick with the Browns from 1992-1995.
Interestingly enough, Jerod Mayo was in the room for McCardell’s interview in New England last season. The now-head coach was reportedly alongside Belichick in all five meetings with their candidates. Perhaps Mayo will bring him back for another look this offseason.
Nick Caley - Rams tight ends coach
Speaking of former candidates, Nick Caley, 40, was a member of the Patriots’ offensive coaching staff for eight seasons from 2015-2022. He won two Super Bowls in the process.
After interviewing for, but ultimately not landing, New England’s offensive coordinator job last offseason, Caley went cross country in a lateral move to serve as the Los Angeles Rams’ tight ends coach for the 2023 season under Sean McVay.
When speaking about Jerod Mayo’s coaching style on Wednesday’s edition of the Greg Hill Show, former Patriots safety Devin McCourty name-dropped Caley, and talked about how he’s grown as a coach with the Rams:
“I think [Mayo’s] going to deliver it differently,” McCourty explained. “I got to interview [Matthew] Stafford so I was at the Rams facility and the tight ends coach, Nick Caley, was with me in New England and I was talking to him and he was like, he’s enjoying being down there… [and] he was like fundamentally, what McVay is teaching is the same thing that he was [teaching] in New England. You know, tough football. Smart players. All of that stuff. But it’s a different way of teaching it. And he said it’s been awesome for him to be in that now.”
Having learned under the NFL’s top offensive guru in McVay for the last year, perhaps now is the time Caley could make the jump to OC.
Shane Waldron - Seahawks offensive coordinator
Another coach to watch with Patriots ties is current Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. A Phillips Academy and Tufts graduate, he was an offensive quality control coach for New England in 2008 and the tight ends coach in 2009 before leaving for the UFL’s Harford Colonials in 2010.
Waldron then returned to the NFL in 2016 as an assistant under then Washington Redskins offensive coordinator Sean McVay, and was then poached my McVay when he took his head coaching gig in L.A. He worked on their staff from 2017-2020 with stints as tight ends coach, quarterbacks coach, and passing game coordinator. Waldon was then hired as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator in 2021, a position he holds to this day.
With Pete Carroll and the Seahawks parting ways last week, Waldron’s job in Seattle is now in jeopardy. He was recently requested to interview for the Saints’ open OC job, something the Seahawks will have to approve since it’s a lateral move.
Given a) his ties to New England and b) his success running an off-shoot Shanahan/McVay system on his own, Jerod Mayo and the Patriots should, at the very least, put in a request to interview Waldron and pick his brain.
Make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @mikekadlick, and follow @WEEI for the latest up-to-date Patriots and Boston sports news!
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