Report: Mac Jones 'very excited' with Bill O'Brien hire

The New England Patriots recently hired former Alabama Crimson Tide offensive coordinator and former head coach of the Houston Texans, Bill O’Brien, as their offensive coordinator. O’Brien has yet to fully dive into his new role, and there are already plenty in the Patriots organization that are excited to work with their new offensive coordinator. One of which is New England’s top quarterback on their roster Mac Jones. According to a recent report courtesy of MassLive, Jones is fired up about the addition of O’Brien to the patriots coaching staff.

According to MassLive, there are several sources close to the New England quarterback that have revealed the level of excitement Jones has for working with his new offensive coordinator. One other source was cited saying Jones “is looking forward to working with coach O’Brien.” They also continued on to highlight that the similarities between how the Patriots and the Crimson Tide approach to the offensive side of the ball will help the two mesh well in this upcoming season.

O’Brien returns to the Patriots after a ten-year hiatus. O’Brien spent five years in New England, from 2007 to 2011, serving a multitude of roles, including offensive coordinator in 2011. His return to the Patriots reunites him with his former boss, Bill Belichick, and also Jones, who he worked with briefly at Alabama.

Before heading off to the NFL in 2021, Jones helped O’Brien learn the Crimson tides offense after he accepted the position of offensive coordinator in 2021 following the departure of Steve Sarkisian. This time around, the two will get to work directly hand in hand as they attempt to rebuild the Patriots’ offense, which struggled last season with Matt Patricia calling the plays.

O’Brien to be named New England Patriots OC

Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is reportedly returning to the NFL. He’s taking over as the offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Low reported Tuesday morning.

O’Brien has spent the last two years with the Crimson Tide, where he worked closely with Bryce Young and helped him become the first Alabama quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy in 2021. He’ll now return to New England, where he worked from 2007-11, and work with another former Crimson Tide star in Mac Jones.

The Patriots, who went 8-9 this season, took an interesting approach with play-calling this year as assistants Joe Judge and Matt Patricia split the duties.

For Nick Saban, the search is now on for two new coordinators after defensive coordinator Pete Golding left the program for Ole Miss earlier this offseason.