Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien set to reportedly leave for Ohio State

O’Brien will take the same job in Columbus.

The New England Patriots will officially have a new offensive coordinator in 2024.

According to ESPN, Bill O’Brien is set to leave Foxboro to join Ohio State as the school’s new offensive coordinator.

The Patriots brought O’Brien back for a second stint with the team last offseason with hopes of getting quarterback Mac Jones and the offense back on track. The opposite occurred, as Jones was benched four times in 11 starts while New England’s offense regressed to averaging a league-worse 13.9 points per game.

O’Brien, who remained under contract in New England, will now return to the collegiate level for the third time in his coaching career, where he served as the head coach at Penn State from 2012-2013 and most previously as the Alabama Crimson Tide’s offensive coordinator from 2021-2022.

The attention now turns to new head coach Jerod Mayo, who will lead the charge in hiring a new offensive coordinator — perhaps his most important move as a first-year head coach.

“Everything is still under consideration,” Mayo said Wednesday when asked about his search for coordinators. “Obviously, the staff that I’ve been working with isn’t the staff that I have chosen, but everything is under evaluation. One thing I would say with all of my coaches, the number one thing is developing people.”