Pats Pulpit Reacts: Patriots fans want Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator

The New England Patriots spent the week interviewing candidates for their open offensive coordinator position. Among those brought in was Alabama coordinator Bill O’Brien, who is seen as a favorite to earn the job.

Whether or not he will remains to be seen, but O’Brien returning to the position he already held back in 2011 would be welcome news to Patriots fans — at least if the latest SB Nation Reacts survey is concerned. While it was, unfortunately, published before most of the candidates’ names started trickling in, it would be a surprise if the results looked any differently.

As is, 53 percent of fans voted for O’Brien as their top candidate. For comparison, second-ranked Zac Robinson of the Los Angeles Rams received just 13 percent of the vote.

Robinson was not invited for a reported interview, as opposed to three other external candidates: Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell, Oregon associate head coach/run game coordinator/offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, and Arizona Cardinals associate head coach/wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson.

Would the results of the survey had looked different had these names already been known? That’s impossible to say, but O’Brien taking a commanding win against the other potential candidates mentioned makes it unlikely.

This week’s SB Nation Reacts survey also asked fans to share their topics on other issues. One of them is the future of ex-Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is headed for free agency coming off a disappointing season. At age 45 going on 46, his future is uncertain; for what it is worth, 81 percent of fans think he should hang up his cleats for good this year.

Additionally, fans were polled to share their thoughts on who would win this weekend’s divisional round games. The Kansas City Chiefs (over Jacksonville) and Buffalo Bills (over Cincinnati) are seen as favorites in the AFC, with the Philadelphia Eagles (over New York) and San Francisco 49ers (over Dallas) joining them on the NFC site.

We also asked the Pats Pulpit community for its take on the offensive coordinator question. Here are some of the answers we got:

Pats Fan stopping by:

Well, Kliff is a bit tied up in Thailand at the moment so he’s out.....LSOB.......

Gase is a no for me.

O’brien is a huge no for me.

Monken is very intriguing but I think he stays at GA.

At the end of the day It looks like we get stuck with O’brien.

phal3123:

Call me crazy but I’m hoping Adam Gase isn’t a serious candidate

QueenofthePhoneAge:

BOB knows Pats and Mac, so viable. Anyone but Gase, Kingsbury, or some other disgraced head coach, unless it was a scapegoat situation like maybe Frank Reich, but I don’t see any reason for him to come onboard. He just doesn’t really make any sense.

Still, anyone with offensive experience is an upgrade, but if they’re gonna do this, they should do it right. Overhaul the entire offensive coaching staff. They put Judge back on ST, so that’s squared away, which is a relief. I know some people think he’s been away from it for too long, but I’m thinking it’s probably like riding a bike. Plus, he really was legit on ST. And maybe Slater will stick around one more year.

Casj:

We need an independent thinker who ignores authority and has the guts to just go for it ..

byrnzee:

A couple of Charger coaches got fired, including Joe Lombardi.

Report: Chargers fire linebackers coach Michael Wilhoite - ProFootballTalk (nbcsports.com)

AlecinBerlin:

I’ve heard that the lacrosse coach from the Univ of East Frogpond Iowa, Harry Smerge, has jumped ahead. Sure, he’s a bit green, having never dipped his toe in NFL waters. But if BB can lure him in, he’s expected to make a splash.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.