As Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia get set to oversee Super Bowl LII units before departing for head-coaching positions, the Patriots are zeroing in on their successors.
Both are expected to be in-house choices. Linebackers coach Brian Flores has been mentioned as the Patriots’ preferred Patricia successor, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk confirms that’s still the thinking in New England. Florio adds wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea, who has been previously mentioned as a possible candidate, is viewed as the frontrunner to take over the 2018 Pats’ offense.
A report from NBC Sports Boston’s Gary Tanguay indicates (Twitter link) the Patriots are planning to interview Ohio State DC Greg Schiano for the DC job, but Florio hears that if Schiano joins the New England staff it will be in a different position.
A possible Schiano route to the Pats’ DC job, per Florio, would then come as a result of Flores being hired as a head coach elsewhere. Considering he was in the mix for the Cardinals’ job for weeks, that could well happen soon.
Florio adds an outside chance exists that assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski succeeds McDaniels, but the belief is he has not been coaching with the team long enough make this ascent. McDaniels has coached the Pats’ QBs and run the offense. Schuplinski was an offensive assistant from 2013-15 before taking over as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2016.
O’Shea, meanwhile, has been the Patriots’ wideouts coach for the past nine seasons. The 45-year-old assistant’s been a full-time position coach since 2004, when he made his NFL debut as the Chiefs’ assistant special teams coach.