FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Patriots have announced new position responsibilities for four members on the current coaching staff. On offense, Bill O'Brien has been named the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach. On defense there were three positional changes. Matt Patricia will now coach the Patriots' safeties, Patrick Graham will serve as linebackers coach and Brian Flores was named defensive assistant on Head Coach Bill Belichick's staff. Corwin Brown, who shared responsibilities with Josh Boyer as a defensive backs coach in 2010, will not return to the team in 2011.
O'Brien will enter his fifth season with the Patriots in 2011 after originally joining the team as an offensive assistant coach in 2007. He served as wide receivers coach in 2008 and then was named the quarterbacks coach in 2009, a position he held the last two seasons. Last year, the Patriots' offense finished eighth in the NFL in total yards and Tom Brady was named the Associated Press NFL MVP after leading the NFL with 36 touchdowns and only four interceptions.
O'Brien joined New England after 14 seasons coaching at the collegiate level. He had coaching tenures at Georgia Tech (1995-02), Maryland (2003-04) and Duke (2005-06), including serving as the offensive coordinator at Georgia Tech and Duke. He began his coaching career at Brown, coaching tight ends in 1993 and inside linebackers in 1994. O'Brien played at Brown as a linebacker and defensive end (1990-92).
Flores will enter his fourth season on the coaching staff and his eighth NFL season. He originally joined New England as a scouting assistant in 2004 and was assigned pro scouting duties prior to the 2006 season. Following his four seasons in the personnel department, he joined the coaching staff as a coaching assistant in 2008. Last season, he served as an offensive assistant coach/special teams. Flores joined the Patriots upon his graduation from Boston College, where he was a three-year letter winner and a two-year starter at linebacker.
Graham will enter his third NFL season after originally joining the staff as a coaching assistant in 2009. He served as a defensive assistant coach last season. After a playing on the defensive line at Yale, Graham served as a graduate assistant at Wagner (2002-03) and then spent three seasons at Richmond, serving as the defensive line coach in 2004 and the tight ends coach in 2005 and 2006. He was a graduate assistant at Notre Dame in 2007 and 2008 prior to joining the Patriots.
Patricia will enter his eighth NFL season. After serving as a coaching assistant in 2004 and an assistant offensive line coach in 2005, he was named the linebackers coach in 2006, a position he has held for the last five seasons (2006-10). Under his leadership, LB Jerod Mayo was named the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2008 and earned Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors in 2010 after leading the NFL with 193 total tackles. After a standout collegiate career as an offensive lineman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Patricia served as a graduate assistant in 1996 before a two-year stint (1999-00) as a defensive line coach at Amherst and a three-year stint as a graduate assistant (2001-03) at Syracuse.
