After just one season on the job, Patriots tight ends coach Shane Waldron is leaving the team, according to ESPN reporter and NESN insider Mike Reiss.
The Boston Globe reported that Waldron has left for the pursuit of "other opportunities."
The Patriots were not known for utilizing the tight end position particularly well, aside from maybe the Week 1 victory against the Bills when Ben Watson made two fourth-quarter touchdown receptions. Watson had the most catches among Patriots tight ends with 29, ranking him 28th in the league at the position. Watson did rank 12th in the league among tight ends with five touchdowns. Chris Baker was 47th in the league with 14 receptions and 24th in touchdowns with two.
While the numbers seem to hold up league-wide individually, tight ends accounted for just 9 percent of the team's receptions. That problem was magnified by the team's struggle to score touchdowns from the red zone.
Reiss speculates that Waldron, a former assistant of Charlie Weis, could join the Kansas City staff, while adding that in-house candidates to replace Waldron include Brian Ferentz and Patrick Graham.
Waldron, 30, was a coaching assistant for the Patriots in 2008. Prior to that, he served as an offensive assistant under Weis at Notre Dame. He played at Tufts University from 1999-2002.
