What Patriots Reportedly Are Looking For In Josh McDaniels’ Replacement

The New England Patriots don’t want to trust Mac Jones’ development to an unproven offensive coordinator.

With longtime OC Josh McDaniels leaving to take over as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, the Patriots are looking to replace him with an experienced play-caller from outside of the organization, according to a report Thursday from Pro Football Focus’ Doug Kyed.

The Patriots often promote from within to fill their coaching vacancies, but no member of their current offensive staff has play-calling experience.

Former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has been viewed as a prime candidate to take over McDaniels’ position. He currently serves as OC at Alabama and briefly overlapped with Jones — a former Crimson Tide standout whom the Patriots drafted in the first round last year — in that role. New England and O’Brien have “mutual interest,” per a report Thursday from NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Other potential candidates for McDaniels’ vacated post include Chad O’Shea and Adam Gase.

O’Shea coached New England’s receivers for a decade, called plays during Patriots preseason games and was the Miami Dolphins’ OC in 2019. He’s currently the receivers coach and passing game coordinator for the Cleveland Browns. Gase would be a controversial choice given his checkered history with young QBs (see: Ryan Tannehill, Sam Darnold), but he has a good relationship with Bill Belichick, who has spoken highly of the former Dolphins and New York Jets head coach in the past.

The Patriots also will need to replace assistant quarterbacks coach Bo Hardegree, who reportedly is following McDaniels to Las Vegas.