Mac Jones is ‘very’ excited to be coached by new Patriots OC Bill O’Brien

Bill Belichick made the rare obvious move on Tuesday when he hired Bill O’Brien to be the Patriots next offensive coordinator.

The former Patriots offensive play caller is a perfect fit for current Patriots quarterback Mac Jones. This hire checks all the boxes. O’Brien worked in the Patriots system from 2007-to-2011. He called plays for his final three seasons even though he held the offensive coordinator title only in 2011.

O’Brien comes to the Patriots from the University of Alabama. He’s dealt with the demands of Belichick and coach Nick Saban. He’s tweaked his offense to please Belichick and Saban.

For Jones, it’s the best of both worlds. That’s why he’s pumped up about the new coaching hire.

According to one source close to Jones, the Patriots quarterback is “very” excited about O’Brien coming to New England.

Another source close to the Patriots quarterback told MassLive that Jones “is looking forward to working with coach O’Brien.” They added that since the Patriots and Alabama have a similar culture and offensive approach, it should help Jones with the transition of working with O’Brien.

The source said that for Jones, it’ll be “nice to start a new working relationship with someone that you already have had the opportunity to work with.”

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O’Brien and Jones have a preexisting relationship. Back in 2021, when he was hired at Alabama, O’Brien briefly overlapped with Jones during the pre-draft process. He told the Alabama media that the quarterback helped him learn Alabama’s offense.

“I think the most challenging thing for me was, when I came in here, learning this offense,” O’Brien said prior to the 2021 Cotton Bowl. “And I had a lot of people help me, people that were here before, guys on the coaching staff, obviously Bryce [Young]. I’ve said before, Mac Jones, when he was working out for the draft, helped me a little bit, which was great.

“So I’m really thankful to those people. That was the most challenging thing because I had been involved with an offense for 10 to 15 years, whatever it was, similar offense. But when you come here, you’re running Alabama’s offense; you’re not bringing your offense in here. And it’s a great offense with a great history. And it was really awesome to learn it, but it was very challenging.”

After a disappointing 2022 campaign, where Belichick made the wrong move by putting Matt Patricia in charge of play calling and Joe Judge in charge of quarterbacks, the Patriots head coach has corrected course and set his young quarterback up to succeed.

Considering O’Brien learned Josh McDaniels’ system first, he now can mix and match the Patriots former system and Alabama’s current offense. That should create an offense that best fits Jones’ skill set.

As we saw during his 2021 rookie season, Jones’ best attributes are his mind and accuracy. He’s the kind of quarterback that can read the defense and exploit different holes in the coverage. He also throws an accurate pass and catchable ball, which receivers past and present have appreciated.

Last year, Jones worked hard in the offseason to improve his throwing mechanics and arm strength. He even worked with Tom Brady’s throwing coach, Tom House. On the field, Jones showed off more arm strength, but the coaching staff’s desire for him to throw the deep ball also led to more interceptions.

O’Brien needs to find a sweet spot where Jones can utilize his accuracy, decision making and improved arm strength in a way that best fits the Patriots offense.

For Jones, this marks his third-different offensive play caller in the NFL. That’s not ideal for a young quarterback, but it’s the norm for this player. At Alabama, Jones played under Steve Sarkisian (2019-2020), Mike Locksley (2018) and Brian Daboll (2017).

O’Brien said in the past that Saban told him that each offensive coordinator put a spin on Alabama;s offense that best fit their quarterback at the time.

“He’s talked to me about that a little bit in how it has evolved over time and how each coordinator’s put their own touch on it,” O’Brien said during Alabama’s 2021 media day. “But at the end of the day, it’s the Alabama offense, and when they went from more of a pro style to more of a spread style when Coach Kiffin was here and then obviously Coach Locksley and Coach Daboll and obviously last year with Coach Sarkisian, it’s evolved over time with all these great offensive minds that have been here.

“Every year’s different. I think in the end, it comes down to who your players are, what can they do best, who your quarterback is, what can he do best and what’s best for the team.”

At this point, it appears that O’Brien is what’s best for the Patriots and for Jones.