The Patriots have reportedly filled the last big opening on their offensive coaching staff

With the hires of Bill O’Brien and Will Lawing, the Patriots had filled just about every spot on their rebuilt offensive coaching staff. Coming into the week offensive line coach was the last spot to fill – and they didn’t wait long into the week to fill it.

Late Monday morning, ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel reported that Adrian Klemm is leaving his roles as Oregon’s offensive line coach, run game coordinator, and associate head coach to take the offensive line coach with the Patriots. According to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, “Klemm is expected to receive a pay raise with the move back to the NFL.”

• 
  (Click here to subscribe to Patriots Audio on 98.5 The Sports Hub.)

• Klemm’s name isn’t new to the Patriots’ offensive coaching staff search. He interviewed for the offensive coordinator job last month, then had a second interview last week for the offensive line coach job, traveling to meet the team in Las Vegas at the Shrine Bowl. The team has been looking for a replacement for Matt Patricia in that spot, after Patricia held the role last year while also being the team’s offensive play caller.

  Last season at Oregon, Klemm, 45, coached an offensive line that allowed just five sacks in 13 games – the fewest in college football. As run game coordinator, he also helped come up with a play action package that resulted in quarterback Bo Nix leading the nation with a 143.9 passer rating on such plays. That should excite Patriots fans, after the team struggled with play action in 2022.

  Prior to coaching at Oregon, Klemm had his lone stint in the NFL which consisted of three years with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was the assistant offensive line coach in 2019 and 2020, then got promoted to offensive line coach in 2021 – although he left the team with two games to go that year to take the Oregon job. Before joining the Steelers, he’d spent nine years in the college ranks between SMU and UCLA, finishing up as the associate head coach, run game coordinator, and offensive line coach at UCLA from 2014-2016.

• 

  Oct 8, 2022; Tucson, Arizona, USA; Oregon Ducks associate head coach Adrian Klemm against the Arizona Wildcats at Arizona Stadium. Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

• This won’t be Klemm’s first stop in New England. He was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft – making him Bill Belichick’s first draft pick with the team. Klemm appeared in 26 games in four years, making 10 starts splitting his time between guard and tackle. He then spent one final NFL season with the Green Bay Packers.

  As is usually the case with college coaching hires in the NFL, one of the first questions is whether he’ll try to bring any of his former players with him via the draft (we already did this experiment with Bill O’Brien last week). Oregon has three offensive players in this year’s NFL Draft – all offensive linemen. T.J. Bass is a versatile guard/tackle expected to go mid-Day 3. Center Alex Forsyth is projected to be a late Day 3 pick, and right tackle Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu is projected to be a late Day 3 pick or priority UDFA.

  With Klemm in place, the Patriots’ offensive coaching staff projects to be adding O’Brien as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Klemm as the offensive line coach, and Lawing as the tight ends coach. Troy Brown and Ross Douglas figure to return as wide receiver coach and assistant wide receiver coach, respectively, with Vinnie Sunseri returning as running backs coach and Billy Yates returning as offensive line coach. The team could also add more assistant positional coaches. Keep in mind these are just projections for now – the Patriots typically announce the official roles for their coaching staff in the days leading up to training camp in July.

• Alex Barth is a writer and digital producer for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Looking for a podcast guest? Let him know on Twitter @RealAlexBarth or via email at abarth@985TheSportsHub.com.