Patriots offensive coordinator search includes focus on tight ends coaches
As of Saturday morning, the New England Patriots have interviewed nine different candidates for their offensive coordinator opening. From former offensive coordinators to would-be first-time play-callers, the search has covered a wide range of candidates.
There is one common theme for about half the candidates though – working with tight ends. Two of the coaches the Patriots have interviewed – Nick Caley (Los Angeles Rams) and and Brian Fleury (San Francisco 49ers) – are currently tight ends coaches. Two more – Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown and Detroit Lions passing game coordinator Tenner Engstrand – were tight ends coaches before being promoted to their current roles. They also interviewed Shane Waldron, who was both a quarterbacks coach and tight ends coach before becoming the OC of the Seattle Seahawks (he has since took the same job with the Chicago Bears).
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When it comes to looking for offense coordinator candidates, aside from those with previous offensive coordinator experience, most minds might turn right to the quarterback coach position. That makes sense, with just over half of the league’s 2023 offensive coordinators serving primarily as quarterbacks coaches prior to their position for that season (some worked with multiple positions).
The next most-common position to produce offensive coordinators? Tight ends.
Over the course of the 2023 NFL season, 34 different individuals held offensive coordinator positions (including interims). 19 of them had a primary background working with quarterbacks. Tight ends coaches made up the next largest group, with six including Detroit’s Ben Johnson and Minnesota’s Wes Phillips. The rest of the group is made up of four wide receiver coaches, three running backs coaches, one offensive line coach, and Bobby Slowik never held a positional coaching job before becoming OC of the Houston Texans this year.
Why are tight ends the second-most coveted for such an important job? That was actually explained well by former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel at the 2022 NFL Combine.
“Those guys are continually involved with all phases of the offense,” Vrabel said, via MassLive. “The line of scrimmage, blocking schemes, pass protections we’ll ask them to do, the route concepts that are being put together. They do have a great working understanding of what’s going on and then how they all tie it together.”
With tight end being the sort of ‘wild card’ position of the offense, it makes sense their coaches are the same way. They have to have an intimate understanding of what is happening at every level of the field on any kind of play, because odds are their players are involved. That’s not true about any other position on the offensive side of the ball.
The biggest question or concern about tight ends coaches as offensive coordinators is that they’re (of course) not as involved in quarterback development as a quarterbacks coach is. During the interviews the plan for the quarterback, including potential quarterback coaches, is likely one of the biggest questions tight ends coaches have to answer.
Now, positional coaching experience is just one factor in the makeup of a coach. It shouldn’t be the determining factor for the Patriots offensive coordinator search, and there’s an argument to be made they should be looking closer at coaches with experience working with quarterbacks, given their own quarterback situation. But as the interview process goes on, this is all something to keep in mind regarding the candidates with tight end backgrounds.
For a look at all of their offensive coordinator candidates, check out our Patriots coaching staff tracker below…
Patriots coaching staff tracker: Building out the staff
Offensive coaching staff
Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt directs the offense during training camp, Aug. 5, 2022 in Berea. (Syndication: Akron Beacon Journal)
Offensive coordinator: Alex Van Pelt
Quarterbacks coach: T.C. McCartney
Running backs coach: Taylor Embree
Wide receivers coach: Unknown (no official parting of ways with Troy Brown)
Assistant wide receivers coach: Tiquan Underwood
Tight ends coach: Vacant
Offensive line coach: Scott Peters
Assistant offensive line coach: Robert Kugler
Offensive assistant: Ben McAdoo
Offensive assistant: Michael McCarthy
The Patriots completed their coordinator search by hiring Van Pelt, a former NFL quarterback. Now, they begin the process of filling out his staff. Here’s a look at who they’ve been linked to for positional coaching roles…
— Robert Kugler (former Carolina Panthers assistant offensive line coach)
— Ben McAdoo (former New York Giants head coach)
— T.C. McCartney (former Cleveland Browns coach)
x — Andy Dickerson (hired by Cleveland Browns)
Patriots’ offensive coordinator interviews…
— Scott Turner (Las Vegas Raiders pass game coordinator)
— Klint Kubiak (San Francisco 49ers pass game coordinator)
— Luke Getsy (former Chicago Bears offensive coordinator)
— Brian Fleury (San Francisco 49ers tight ends coach)
— Tanner Engstrand (Detroit Lions pass game coordinator)
— Jerrod Johnson**** (Houston Texans quarterbacks coach)
— Thomas Brown***** (Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator)
— Nick Caley (Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach)
— Zac Robinson*** (Los Angeles Rams pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach)
— Dan Pitcher** (Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks coach)
— Shane Waldron* (Seahawks offensive coordinator)
*Waldron was hired as the Chicago Bears OC after interviewing with the Patriots
**Pitcher was promoted to the Bengals’ OC job, replacing new Titans head coach Brian Callahan
***Robinson was hired as the Atlanta Falcons OC after interviewing with the Patriots
****Johnson is staying in Houston in his current role
*****Brown was hired as the Chicago Bears pass game coordinator after interviewing with the Patriots
Defensive coaching staff
Dec 12, 2022; Glendale, Arizona, USA; New England Patriots defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive coordinator: DeMarcus Covington
Defensive line coach: Jerry Montgomery
Inside linebackers coach: Dont’a Hightower
Outside linebackers coach: Drew Wilkins
Cornerbacks coach: Mike Pellegrino
Safeties coach: Brian Belichick
The Patriots named Covington their defensive coordinator, promoting him from within (he was previously the defensive line coach). Mayo and Covington now will go through the process of building out the rest of the staff. Above are coaches they’ve interviewed for positional roles since officially promoting Covington, and below is a look at the other coaches the Patriots interviewed for the DC role, who could be candidates for positional coaching jobs.
— Jerry Montgomery (former Green Bay Packers defensive line coach & run game coordinator)
— Gerald Alexander (Pittsburgh Steelers assistant defensive backs coach)
— Michael Hodges (New Orleans Saints linebackers coach)
— Christian Parker (Denver Broncos defensive backs coach)
— Tem Lukabu (Carolina Panthers outside linebackers coach)
Special teams staff
Jun 2, 2022; Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams special teams assistant coach Jeremy Springer during organized team activities at California Lutheran University. Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Special teams coordinator: Jeremy Springer
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported the Patriots are hiring Springer as their new special teams coordinator. The team has had multiple special teams coaches in the past, so look for him to add one or two assistants to his staff. The only other coach the Patriots interviewed for special teams who hasn’t taken another job yet is Thomas McGaughey.
