When Bill O’Brien was brought back to the New England Patriots to take control of the offense following a disappointing 2022 campaign, the thinking by most was he would put the playbook he had from 2009-2011 back in place. While elements of what he used successfully will likely appear again, it seems he’s almost doing a gut renovation on the Patriots’ scheme altogether.
Why Bill O'Brien is the biggest key to Pats' 2023 success
According to MMQB’s Albert Breer, Bill O’Brien is “completely reworking the playbook” for the 2023 season, which is a big deal on a number of fronts. Not only does this represent a departure from what he used and installed a decade-plus ago, it also means he’s throwing out last year’s reverse-engineered offense of Matt Patricia and company and installing some fresh components never before seen in the Pats offense. That alone should be exciting for Patriots players and fans alike.
This also means QB Mac Jones will be learning his third system as a pro in three years, his fourth in four years if you count his senior season at Alabama. Nothing to scoff at should Jones, who famously taught the Alabama offense to O’Brien back in early 2021 when Billy O took over for Steve Sarkisian and Jones was getting ready to turn pro, be able to grasp this hybrid system O’Brien is putting together. As if it’s not enough to ditch the memory of Patricia’s “streamlined” offense of 2022, not to mention the ire of his head coach and stave off the competition from second year QB Bailey Zappe.
Said SI’s Breer, while appearing on NBC Sports Boston: "I think it's going to be a hybrid of a lot of different things.” O’Brien taking elements of what’s worked in Foxboro, Penn State, Houston and Alabama, all places he’s coached and coordinated, and combining them into one new contemporary playbook in Foxboro could be exciting for all members of the offense, looking to leave the frustrations of 2022 behind and keep pace in a surging AFC and highly competitive AFC East.
For Patriots fans that are worried O’Brien is going to try to make work what worked for him in 2010, minus having Gronk and Brady, hearing “He's gonna be able to do some things that I think are on the cutting edge of where the sport is going” should excite them that things are going to change for the better.
O’Brien already represented, for a fanbase hungry for competence and success yet comfortable with familiar, something they knew to work. That he is looking to surge past what he did and where he was, hoping to innovate so as to compete with some of the modern talent in the AFC? That is something to get excited about. And this is before O’Brien potentially gets some shiny new tools to work with in the 2023 NFL Draft.
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