Bill O'Brien's current boss doesn't seem to think he's going anywhere. But the New England Patriots may have other plans.
NFL Media's Ian Rapoport suggested Thursday that both O'Brien and the Patriots have interest in him returning as the Patriots' offensive coordinator to replace Josh McDaniels, who took the Las Vegas Raiders head coach job last week.
"I do believe there’s interest," Rapoport said on WEEI's "Gresh & Keefe" radio show. "I think there’s interest from (the Patriots) and I think there’s interest from (O'Brien), and a lot of times when that’s the case, these things end up working out.
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"But they’ve got to go through a process. They have to interview multiple candidates. They have to interview candidates who are minorities. They have to go through all that. So we are not there yet, and I would say typically, the Patriots work very, very slow on staffing."
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O'Brien just finished his first year as Alabama's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, and Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saban -- a close friend of Bill Belichick -- said Wednesday he doesn't believe O'Brien is "trying to leave."
A reunion between New England and O'Brien would make sense, though. O'Brien was the Patriots' offensive coordinator in 2011 before McDaniels replaced him and actually has some experience with quarterback Mac Jones, who helped O'Brien learn the Alabama offense after he landed the job last winter.
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But as Rapoport points out, the Patriots need to go through a traditional interview process -- which includes interviewing at least one external minority candidate to adhere to the Rooney Rule, which was expanded in 2021 to cover coordinator openings.
Considering former Miami Dolphins head coach (and ex-Patriots assistant) Brian Flores just filed a lawsuit against the New York Giants and Denver Broncos for allegedly conducting "sham interviews" to satisfy the Rooney Rule, New England would be wise to seriously consider OC candidates of all backgrounds in addition to O'Brien to determine who's the best fit.
That process could take a while -- Rapoport noted the Patriots have occasionally entered the NFL Combine in March without a complete coaching staff -- so fans may have to wait before the team settles on its next offensive coordinator.