Ex-Patriots executive Michael Lombardi reacts to son’s ‘hometown’ opportunity as Raiders offensive coordinator

After spending the past three seasons with the New England Patriots, Mick Lombardi has been hired as the next offensive coordinator of the Las Vegas Raiders, as reported Saturday by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

It’s a move his father described as “full circle” on VSiN’s “Lombardi Line.”

“We’re really excited that he’s got a great opportunity to go back to really his hometown team,” former Patriots assistant to the coaching staff Michael Lombardi said Sunday.

The elder Lombardi began his football career as UNLV’s recruiting coordinator from 1981 through 1984. He later served as the Raiders’ senior personnel executive in Oakland from 1998 through 2007 after stints with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Philadelphia Eagles.

“I mean, when I was there for 10 years, he started in the fifth grade in Oakland, and he was able to graduate high school from Oakland,” Lombardi, 62, told co-host Patrick Meagher. “And so, for him to become a Raider again, as a kid that used to go in the locker room and steal socks and footballs out of there and look at Charles Woodson’s locker and all that, it’s a great, great honor for him. It’s a great opportunity for him. We are obviously extremely proud that he’s been able to achieve this at such a young age. So I’m delighted for him.”

Mick Lombardi, who arrived in Foxborough as a scouting assistant in 2011, returned as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2019. He oversaw the wide receivers for the last two seasons.

The 33-year-old Fordham graduate now joins new general manager Dave Ziegler and head coach Josh McDaniels in Las Vegas alongside fellow past Patriots assistants Bo Hardegree, Carmen Bricillo, Patrick Graham, Rob Ryan and DuJuan Daniels.

“I started my career in Vegas. The first place I ever lived in Vegas,” added Michael Lombardi. “... And now to come full circle, to have him at the Raiders and also in the town where I started, it’s kind of really a magic moment for us as a family and we’re so proud of him.”