Troy Brown may not be staying in New England, after all.
The former Patriots wide receiver and current assistant coach is a candidate to become Arizona State's new wide receivers coach, 247 Sports' Noah Furtado reports.
Brown was spotted on ASU's campus Monday, per Furtado, a day after Arizona State's previous wide receivers coach, Ra'Shaad Samples, became the Sun Devils' running backs coach and assistant head coach.
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It's been an interesting offseason for Brown in the post-Bill Belichick era; the three-time Super Bowl champion represented the Patriots at the 2024 Shrine Bowl in January as an offensive coordinator, but his 2023 role as wide receivers coach was filled when new head coach Jerod Mayo brought in Tyler Hughes and Tiquan Underwood as wide receivers coach and assistant wide receivers coach, respectively.
Brown also worked with kick returners in 2023, but the Patriots hired a new special teams coach as well in Jeremy Springer.
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Head coach Jerod Mayo told reporters at the NFL owners' meetings in late March that Brown is still on the coaching staff as a "skill development" coach, but it isn't surprising that Brown may pursue other opportunities. As it stands now, he's the only member of the 2023 offensive coaching staff still with the team, as new offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt is overseeing a brand-new group.
A completely fresh start on offense might be wise considering that New England ranked last in the NFL last season in points per game (13.9), and that wide receiver was a glaring weakness that needs to improve if the Patriots want to return to relevance.