Coaching change? These candidates could replace Josh McDaniels as Patriots offensive coordinator

The Las Vegas Raiders appear to be zoning in Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels for their vacant head-coaching position.

McDaniels is scheduled to be interviewed on Saturday. If he leaves the Patriots, he’ll likely be joined by director of player personnel Dave Ziegler, who already interviewed for the Raiders general manager position.

That’s not an ideal situation from a Patriots perspective. McDaniels has been an integral part in developing Mac Jones. The quarterback put together one of the best statistical seasons for a rookie in NFL history. The pair also had a good relationship. For young players, continuity is a big key. For Jones, losing his offensive coordinator after his first year wouldn’t be good.

The Patriots need to hit a home run with whoever replaces McDaniels, if he leaves. The Patriots will have several candidates, both internal and external, who could replace their long-time offensive signal-caller.

Here are 10 candidates:

Bill O’Brien, Alabama offensive coordinator

O’Brien is the simplest solution to this problem and should be the favorite to replace McDaniels. The former Brown linebacker coached in New England from 2007-2011. A bright offensive mind, O’Brien was the Patriots offensive coordinator in 2011 before departing for Penn State. After coaching the Houston Texans from 2014-2020, he was Alabama’s offensive coordinator last season. O’Brien said Jones helped teach him the Crimson Tide’s offense.

O’Brien has run the Patriots offense and has a relationship with Jones and Bill Belichick. Enough said.

Nick Caley, Patriots tight ends/fullbacks coach

Caley represents the Patriots top internal candidate. The 39-year-old came to New England as an offensive assistant in 2015. He started coaching tight ends in 2017. This past season, Caley’s title grew to tight ends/full backs coach. He’s also considered a future head-coaching candidate, earning a spot on the NFL Network’s list of assistant coaches that others around the NFL believe will one day make the leap. Before he does that, Caley will likely become an offensive coordinator.

Mick Lombardi, Patriots wide receivers coach

Lombardi is another internal candidate that the Patriots could consider. The 33-year-old grew up around football as his dad is former NFL executive Michael Lombardi. Lombardi started his career in San Francisco at age 25. At 29, Lombardi became the New York Jets assistant quarterbacks coach. He joined the Patriots in 2019 in the same role. In 2020, Lombardi earned a promotion to wide receivers coach. Considering he’s coached quarterbacks and receivers, a logical next career step would be coordinator.

Adam Gase, former Dolphins/Jets head coach

Heads might explode if this happens, but there are connections here. Gase worked for Nick Saban at Michigan State and LSU. When McDaniels coached the Denver Broncos, he hired Gase as his receivers coach. Gase worked as the offensive coordinator for the Broncos (2011-2012) and Chicago Bears (2015) before becoming the head coach for the Dolphins (2016-2018) and Jets (2019-2020). Gase once said that Belichick called him after he was let go in 2018 to inquire about him joining the Patriots staff.

Chad O’Shea, Cleveland receivers coach/passing game coordinator

O’Shea would be a solid choice as he has experience in the Patriots system and as an offensive play-caller. From 2009-2018, O’Shea worked as the Patriots wide receivers coach. He left in 2019 to become the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator. He was let go after the Dolphins wanted to simplify their offense for Tua Tagovailoa. O’Shea has spent the last two season as the Cleveland Browns wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator.

Jerry Schuplinski, New York Giants quarterbacks coach

Schuplinski could be a favorite to join McDaniels in Las Vegas. He worked with the Patriots as an offensive assistant from 2013-2015 before becoming the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach from 2016-2018. The 44-year-old followed Brian Flores to Miami where he worked as the assistant quarterbacks coach. He earned a promotion in 2020 when he joined the New York Giants. He was the team’s quarterbacks coach over the last two seasons.

Shane Waldron, Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator

Waldron spent last season as the Seahawks offensive coordinator, but has ties to New England. Waldron worked in the Patriots front office as an operations intern (2002-2003) and operations assistant (2004). After following Charlie Wise to Notre Dame, he came back to New England in 2008 as the Pats’ offensive quality control coach and then as the team’s tight end coach in 2009. Waldron worked with Sean McVay in Los Angeles as the Ram’s tight ends coach (2017) and passing game coordinator (2018-2020).

George Godsey, Dolphins co-offensive coordinator

Godsey started his NFL career in New England as an offensive assistant (2011) and Patriots tight ends coach (2012-2013). He has worked under three former Patriots assistants. Godsey became a quarterbacks coach (2014) and offensive coordinator under O’Brien in Houston (2015-2016). He was actually coached by O’Brien as the quarterback at Georgia Tech in 2001. He was also Matt Patricia’s quarterbacks coach in Detroit in 2018. Godsey then worked with Flores in Miami as the Dolphins tight ends coach (2019-2020) and co-offensive coordinator (2021).

Brian Ferentz, Iowa offensive coordinator

If the Patriots were to dip into the college ranks, this might be the direction they go. Ferentz’s father is Kirk Ferentz, who is the head coach at Iowa and is friends with Belichick. Ferentz started his coaching career with the Patriots. He was a scouting assistant (2008) followed by an offensive assistant (2009), assistant tight ends coach (2010) and then Patriots tight ends coach in 2011. That season he worked with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Ferentz went back to Iowa in 2012 He’s been the Hawkeyes’ offensive coordinator since 2017.

Charlie Weis Jr., Ole Miss offensive coordinator

Here’s an outside-the-box hire with a familiar name. Weis Jr. is the son of former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis. Weiss Jr. started coaching at age 18. He worked under Nick Saban as an offensive analyst (2015-2016). He joined Steve Sarkisian as an offensive assistant with the Atlanta Falcons in 2017. At 24, Weis became Florida Atlantic’s offensive coordinator in 2018. After a coaching change, he worked as South Florida’s offensive coordinator over the last two seasons. Weis, 28, was hired as Ole Miss’ offensive coordinator at the end of the college season in 2019..

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: 10 candidates who could replace Josh McDaniels as Patriots offensive coordinator