Patriots Make Out-Of-Nowhere Offensive Coordinator Hire

The Patriots reportedly interviewed 12 total candidates for their offensive coordinator opening, and ended up hiring the last one to step foot into One Patriot Place.

They instead hired someone who already held the title elsewhere.

New England reportedly is hiring Alex Van Pelt as their offensive coordinator, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL Media. Van Pelt spent the past four seasons holding the same position with the Cleveland Browns.

Van Pelt helped Cleveland make the playoffs despite having five different quarterbacks start at least one game during the regular season. He was fired by the Browns following their blowout loss to the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional round. The 53-year-old didn't call plays in Cleveland, as head coach Kevin Stefanski has held onto that role since being hired.

It's been a long path throughout the NFL for Van Pelt. He played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills for nine seasons, before later coaching quarterbacks for the latter and being elevated to offensive coordinator in 2009. He had a short stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2010, before spending six seasons coaching Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers. He served as the quarterbacks coach for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018-19.

Van Pelt overlapped with Patriots director of scouting Eliot Wolf during his time in Green Bay.

The Patriots hosted Van Pelt for an interview Thursday, according to Mark Daniels of MassLive. They must have liked what came out of the meeting, hiring him over any of the previously interviewed candidates. His offense has lots of West Coast influence, similar to that of Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.

That'll excite plenty in New England.