AP/Steven Senne
Bill Belichick was likely planning for this years ago.
As is the case every January, Patriots coordinators Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels interviewed for head coaching gigs.
This time, both are expected to leave: McDaniels will reportedly accept the position of head coach with the Indianapolis Colts, while Patricia will reportedly take over in Detroit.
Now, the Patriots must fill both coordinator positions. Patricia and McDaniels have held their current jobs for the past six seasons.
McDaniels took over as coordinator in the winter of 2012 after Bill O'Brien left for Penn State. Patricia earned the title of defensive coordinator in 2012, but he had been calling the plays on defense for several years prior to that.
So this is new territory for Bill Belichick. How will the Pats replace two of their most important coaches?
We'll look at some possibilities:
AP/Winslow Townson
BELICHICK'S HISTORY
Belichick prefers to promote from within the organization.
He has a reputation for developing young coaches in entry-level positions and allowing them to climb the ranks.
Belichick has filled offensive and defensive coordinator jobs seven times, and four of those hires started their NFL careers as Patriots coaching assistants (McDaniels, hired twice as offensive coordinator, O'Brien and Patricia).
AP/Brynn Anderson
OFF THE BOARD...
Brian Daboll -- The former Patriots tight ends coach accepted a job as the Bills offensive coordinator. Daboll, who spent this season at Alabama as Nick Saban's offensive coordinator, was responsible for bringing McDaniels to New England.
A look first at the offensive coordinator candidates...
AP/Elise Amendola
CHAD O'SHEA (OC CANDIDATE)
Experience: O'Shea has worked as the Patriots wide receivers coach since 2009. Prior to New England, he held the same position with the Vikings. O'Shea entered the NFL as a volunteer special teams assistant in 2003.
As we learned in the "Do Your Job" documentary, O'Shea heads up the Patriots' red zone gameplanning, an important responsibility on the staff.
He seems to be the favorite if the Pats look in-house for an offensive coordinator.
AP/Steven Senne
JERRY SCHUPLINSKI (OC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Another John Carroll product, Schuplinski was college teammates with Josh McDaniels, Nick Caserio, and Dave Ziegler (New England's director of pro personnel).
For the past two seasons, Schuplinski has worked alongside McDaniels as New England's assistant quarterbacks coach.
He joined the Patriots staff as a coaching assistant in 2013.
AP/Elise Amendola
IVAN FEARS (OC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Lots of it.
Fears has been with the Patriots since 1999. He has served as the team's running backs coach since 2002.
If Belichick does not feel any of the younger coaches are ready to take over offensive coordinator responsibilities, perhaps he can lean on Fears to fill the role.
AP/Charlie Neibergall
BRIAN FERENTZ (OC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Worked for the Patriots as an offensive assistant and tight ends coach from 2009-11. Ferentz went on to coach the offensive line at the University of Iowa for five seasons before earning a promotion to offensive coordinator a year ago.
The Ferentz family has ties to Bill Belichick.
Longtime Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz (Brian's father) was Belichick's offensive line coach with Cleveland in the 1990s.
Kirk's second son, James Ferentz, is an interior offensive lineman on the New England practice squad.
AP/Steven Senne
GEORGE GODSEY (OC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Entered the NFL as a coaching assistant with the Patriots in 2011. Godsey worked as Houston's offensive coordinator under Bill O'Brien from 2015-16 (the Brian Hoyer/Brock Osweiler era). He was fired at the end of the 2016 season and latched on with the Lions in a "special projects" role.
NICK CASERIO (EVERYTHING CANDIDATE)
Experience: Caserio does it all.
The guy makes major personnel decisions and plays quarterback in practice. Caserio knows the Patriots' system as well as anyone.
He was the team's receivers coach in 2007 before moving back to the personnel side the following season.
MCDANIELS, PATRICIA ON THE MOVE
AP/Mark Humphrey
BRIAN FLORES (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Joined the Patriots as a scouting assistant in 2004 and has climbed the ladder to linebackers coach.
Flores seems to be the obvious candidate, but there's one potential hangup: He's in the mix for a head coaching job.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Flores is "very much in play" for the Cardinals' job.
It's unclear if Flores has interviewed with Arizona yet.
AP/Mel Evans
GREG SCHIANO (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Schiano was about to become the head coach at Tennessee...until he wasn't.
The Vols pulled out of the deal because Schiano allegedly covered up Jerry Sandusky's child abuse at Penn State. Of course, there has never been any proof that Schiano did such a thing. Yahoo!'s Dan Wetzel explained the entire case here.
So Schiano ended up staying put as Ohio State's defensive coordinator. The former Rutgers coach has a well-documented relationship with Bill Belichick.
Belichick's son, Steve, played for Schiano at Rutgers.
“He’s one of the very best coaches I think in our profession," Belichick said in November. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg and the way he runs his program and the job that he does. I would say the most impressive thing for me is the way that our players, which we’ve had a lot of Rutgers players come through here, the loyalty and the, I would say love of the program, the college program that they were in at Rutgers when he was there, how they maintained that for years and years after they had left. Not taking anything away from any other school, but I would just say that it’s extremely strong. I think the relationship that he has with his kids, with his players and how well prepared his players are to come into this league is exceptional."
AP/Charles Krupa
STEVE BELICHICK (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: The 30-year-old Belichick would be young for the position, but he (obviously) has been around the Patriots' program for most of his life.
Belichick has coached the safeties -- one of the team's strongest position groups -- for the past two seasons.
On Super Bowl Media Night a year ago, Belichick went in-depth on all aspects of his career.
AP/Elise Amendola
BRENDAN DALY (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Few coaches in New England -- and probably the NFL -- are more intense and energetic than Daly.
Daly arrived in New England in 2014 after working as the Vikings defensive line coach for two seasons.
A tight end in college, Daly has exclusively coached the defensive line in his 12 NFL seasons.
AP/Mark Humphrey
JOSH BOYER (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Boyer joined the Patriots as a coaching assistant in 2006. He has spent six seasons as the team's cornerbacks coach.
He was instrumental in Malcolm Butler's development. Read more on that here from Bleacher Report's Dan Pompei.
AP/Ted S. Warren
KRIS RICHARD (DC CANDIDATE)
Experience: Worked for the Seahawks from 2012-17. Spent the past three seasons as Seattle's defensive coordinator.
The Seahawks made wholesale changes to the coaching staff after missing the playoffs, though. Richard, who was replaced by Ken Norton Jr., has reportedly been told to look for another job.
It would be atypical for the Patriots to hire an outside candidate, but they might not have a choice if Flores gets the Arizona job.
PATS OFFENSE ROLLING
Ad Choices