Getty Image / Bryan M Bennett
Before the start of the 2022 NFL season, the New England Patriots made an odd decision.
They chose to not have a real offensive coordinator.
The team lost Josh McDaniels when he became the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.
They had plenty of time to find themselves a replacement to take over his duties, but instead spent the offseason with some very unclear hierarchy of Matt Patricia and Joe Judge leading the offense.
It led to a lot of uncertainty and plenty of concerns about Mac Jones’ camp performance heading into the season. That didn’t stop the team from naming former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia as their offensive coordinator.
To the surprise of very few people outside of the Patriots organization, the experiment didn’t go well.
Jones and the offense struggled throughout the year, leading to fans calling for Jones to be benched. Meanwhile, Jones had no issue displaying his displeasure with the coaching staff during games.
There was even a recent report that the locker room isn’t happy with the situation they were put in this year by the coaching staff.
Today, the Patriots released a statement revealing that they will be working on fixing their mistake and beginning to interview offensive coordinators.
Something a little different from the Patriots: A press release announcing they are negotiating with Jerod Mayo … and will begin interviewing offensive coordinator candidates next week. pic.twitter.com/MJ5fZBH9EA
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) January 13, 2023
The Patriots absolutely needed to make this a priority for the offseason. Their experiment without an offensive coordinator was a disaster this season and letting this go any further would have risked ruining Jones as an NFL quarterback.
The New England Patriots probably should have realized a year ago that they needed an offensive coordinator this season, but at least they’ve realized their mistake ahead of the 2023 season.