The Patriots’ revamped coaching staff is beginning to take shape.
On Monday, New England landed its new offensive line coach, reportedly offering a pay raise to woo Adrian Klemm away from Oregon. The 2000 Patriots draft pick operated one of the best O-lines in college football last season — the Ducks allowed just five sacks all year and ranked 12th in the FBS in rushing — and should be a substantial upgrade over predecessor Matt Patricia.
News of Klemm’s arrival came four days after the Patriots brought on projected Nick Caley replacement Will Lawing and two weeks after they officially hired Bill O’Brien as their new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
As of midday Monday, O’Brien was the only coaching addition New England had officially announced since its season ended Jan 8. It remains unclear exactly how the Patriots’ staff will look once the 2023 campaign kicks off in September.
Lingering questions include whether Patricia — whose one-year stint as O-line coach and offensive play-caller was a full-blown disaster — will remain with the team in a different capacity and what linebackers coach Jerod Mayo’s official title/duties will be following his contract extension.
Patricia and Caley — whom the Los Angeles Rams reportedly hired Sunday as their new tight ends coach — were the only 2022 Patriots assistants who were not with the team at last week’s East-West Shrine Bowl. That suggests all others will be retained next season, though it’s not yet known whether any will be changing positional responsibilities.
With that ongoing uncertainty noted, here is a projection of how the Patriots might structure their new offensive staff:
Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks: Bill O’Brien
Offensive line: Adrian Klemm
Assistant offensive line: Billy Yates
Tight ends: Will Lawing
Running backs: Vinnie Sunseri
Wide receivers: Troy Brown and Ross Douglas
Klemm, Yates, Sunseri and Brown all are former Patriots players. Lawing is the only one of those seven coaches who does not have a prior New England connection, but he’s a longtime O’Brien assistant, working with the Patriots’ new OC for the past 10 seasons at Penn State, with the Houston Texans and at Alabama.
The Patriots might not be done adding to this group. With O’Brien both coordinating the offense and coaching quarterbacks, it would make sense for the team to have an assistant QBs coach working underneath him. Douglas, whom the Patriots had work with signal-callers at the Shrine Bowl, could be an under-the-radar option for that role.
Over on defense, re-upping Mayo allowed the Patriots to maintain the continuity they’ve enjoyed for the past several seasons. They have not lost a defensive position coach to another job since 2020. This season, that group consisted of linebackers coaches Mayo and Steve Belichick, defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington, cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino and safeties coach Brian Belichick.
Mayo and Steve Belichick have served as de facto co-defensive coordinators, with neither receiving that official title. It will be interesting to see how or if that changes next season following Mayo’s extension. An assistant head coach title would be a logical promotion for Mayo, but a report last week from the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian indicated that might not happen.
As for special teams, it does not appear the Patriots are parting ways with coordinator Cam Achord after his units ranked dead last in the NFL this season and were plagued by miscues and breakdowns. Achord could be demoted, however, as a shift back to special teams coordinator would be the most natural move for Joe Judge.
Judge worked with Mac Jones as the Patriots’ quarterbacks coach this season, but the kicking game is his area of expertise. His résumé includes five seasons as New England’s special teams coordinator (2015-19) and three more as a Patriots special teams assistant.
