A good offensive coordinator is a good teacher, first and foremost. They're knowledgeable, they can influence you in a positive way based on that knowledge, and they hold you accountable to help you become a better player.
Every successful offensive coordinator I've had has been confident in his abilities. He has a plan for how he wants to call a game, and he thinks ahead of down and distance. So if we call a run on first-and-10, he's thinking about the next call, whether it's second-and-10, second-and-5 or a first down.
Successful offensive coordinators also can deliver a consistent message and are able to play to their quarterback's strengths. To do that, you have to look at the offense in its entirety. In the New England Patriots' case, there are a lot of question marks on offense right now. Jakobi Meyers has been their most dependable wide receiver, but it's unclear whether he'll come back in free agency. There are decisions to make at left tackle, where Trent Brown and Isaiah Wynn had arguably the worst seasons of their NFL careers.
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The offensive coordinator has to say, "How are we going to address these issues and put Mac Jones in a position to be successful? What scheme can we run that fits his strengths and his skill set?" Mac isn't going to run a ton of zone reads, for example. He's going to be mainly a pocket passer, so you need to surround him with weapons on the outside and a good offensive line so he can operate within the confines of the pocket, then dial up plays that help him get in a good rhythm.
Success is in the details
I always appreciated the more thorough coordinators who could help me understand why we're running certain plays. When I was in New England, I also benefited from the quarterbacks meeting with Bill Belichick on Tuesdays. We'd watch film of the opposing defense and break down their personnel, then talk about their defensive coordinator to get a better sense of their history, their football lineage and where they came from.
By the time we started to install plays, we had a good understanding for who we wanted to attack with specific routes, who was good defending the deep ball, who struggled with transitions, etc. There are coordinators like that who help you gain a high level of understanding because they're so detail-oriented.
On the other hand, you'll have some coordinators who have the mentality of, "We can run this play vs. every defense, and we've got to find a way to make it work," whether that's making changes at the line of scrimmage or redirecting protection. So, there are different styles that a coordinator can have, and part of it depends on the personnel you have.
But the most important piece is the communication between the OC and the quarterback, and the level of confidence the quarterback has going into the game. If the OC can give you the confidence of understanding how to get out of trouble and make the right calls at the line of scrimmage based on what the defense is showing, that helps simplify the game a lot for a quarterback.
Two strong candidates
To me, Bill O'Brien has to be a frontrunner. He has a relationship with the Patriots, and he's familiar with the system and the demanding nature of the job. He was in the OC role in 2011, and just based on his family situation, it sounds like he wants to make the jump back to the NFL.
There's also the relationship factor: We know Bill Belichick likes to hire people he has relationships with, and a lot of that comes down to them speaking the same language and having schemes and terminology that they're both familiar with. That's definitely part of it as well.
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Then you have Chad O'Shea, who had a 10-year run with the Patriots and is now working for Kevin Stefanski with the Browns. He's been exposed to some different concepts in Cleveland, such as the under-the-center rushing attack, the zone scheme and also the play-action pass, where they've had some success.
So, he could be an interesting candidate because he's still very familiar with the Patriots system and worked under Josh McDaniels for a long time, but in addition, he's been exposed to another staff and might have some new, creative ideas he can bring to the table.
A fresh face?
Belichick will be calculated in how approaches hiring a new offensive coordinator. The sooner he makes a decision, the better, because you would love to have somebody in the building who can help with the evaluation process at the Senior Bowl, the NFL Draft and so on. You want the new coordinator to have a voice in terms of where the team is going from a personnel standpoint, and what pieces the offense may need to be successful.
Then again, Belichick may want to take time to evaluate the pros and cons of bringing in a familiar face like Bill O'Brien or someone from a completely different upbringing, such as a coach from the Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan system.
That would be a huge change in philosophy for Belichick, so he'd have to be willing to step out of his comfort zone. He's really only hired one offensive coordinator outside of people who have worked with him, and that's Greg Schiano, who left before the season even started in 2019.
There are challenges to that approach, because it might involve learning an entirely different verbiage. It could be the same play you're used to running, but it could involve different techniques and different language. Considering they already went through a transition last offseason from Josh McDaniels to Patricia, that might be too tall a task.
Editor's Note: Matt Cassel played 14 years in the NFL as a quarterback, including four with the Patriots from 2005 to 2008. He serves as an analyst for NBC Sports Boston, appearing on Pre/Postgame Live, as a guest on Tom Curran's Patriots Talk Podcast every Thursday, and as a columnist each week during the season.
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January 13, 2023 at 10:15PM
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What makes a good offensive coordinator, and who is a good fit for Patriots? - NBC Sports Boston
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