Patriots unsuccessfully interviewed Shane Waldron for offensive coordinator

Waldron was announced as the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator earlier this week.

• By
  
  Bernd Buchmasser
  
• on January 24, 2024 6:16 am

The New England Patriots’ search for a new offensive coordinator is underway, but one name can already be scratched off the list of targets.

Shane Waldron, who was hired as the Chicago Bears’ OC earlier this week, also previously interviewed with the Patriots. According to a report by Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, New England was among three teams alongside Chicago and the Las Vegas Raiders to express interest in the 44-year-old.

Waldron and the Patriots have a history that extends beyond their recent meeting. After his college career at Tufts, he joined the organization as an intern in 2002. He spent three years in New England — also working as an operations assistant along the way — before departing for a graduate assistant position at Notre Dame.

In 2008, Waldron returned to New England to work in quality control and later coach tight ends. He left following the 2009 season and after holding positions in the short-lived UFL, at the high school level and at UMass returned to the pros in 2016: he held a quality control position in Washington under the team’s then-offensive coordinator Sean McVay.

When McVay departed for the Los Angeles Rams the following year, he took Waldron with him. He initially coached tight ends, but was later installed as pass game coordinator and, briefly, quarterbacks coach.

His work in L.A. put him on the Seattle Seahawks’ radar, who hired him as their offensive coordinator in 2021. After three years at the job, he left as part of the team’s coaching staff restructure.

Waldron is one of four coaches reportedly interviewing for the Patriots’ vacant offensive coordinator position so far. New head coach Jerod Mayo is also targeting fellow ex-Rams assistants Zac Robinson and Nick Caley, as well as the Cincinnati Bengals’ Dan Pitcher. What unites all four is their experience in the so-called “Shanahan system.”

The Patriots’ offensive coordinator position opened up last week, when Bill O’Brien reportedly left after just one season to take a position at Ohio State.

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