Bill Belichick reportedly denied big request from OC Bill O’Brien

Jul 26, 2023; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Bill O’Brien directs the office on a drill during training camp at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports

The New England Patriots were hoping Bill O’Brien could help fix some of their offensive issues this season, but the coach’s second stint with the team has not gone well thus far. A new report raises the question of whether things would have been different had Bill Belichick given O’Brien more freedom.

Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald published a piece this week detailing some of the dysfunction that has existed in what could be Belichick’s last season in New England. One of the issues arose early on, when O’Brien supposedly “wanted to clean house and build his own offensive staff upon arriving in January.”

Belichick gave O’Brien very little freedom to assemble his own staff, according to the report. The only hire that was allowed was Will Lawing, who replaced former tight ends coach Nick Casey.

That means O’Brien inherited a staff that oversaw one of the worst offenses in football last season. The end result was O’Brien running more offensive meetings that involved all players rather than positional coaches meeting with smaller groups of players, which is more typical.

There was talk during the offseason that Belichick did not want to hire O’Brien. The 71-year-old coach had very little leverage, however, as his plan to install Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator in 2022 was a disaster.

It would not be a surprise if Patriots owner Robert Kraft forced Belichick to bring O’Brien back, but Belichick chose not to let O’Brien come in and clean house on the offensive side of the ball.