Shane Waldron, who was hired as the Chicago Bears’ coordinator earlier this week, also previously interviewed with the Patriots. According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, New England was one of three teams interested in the 44-year-old, along with Chicago and the Las Vegas Raiders.
Waldron and the Patriots have some history outside of recent meetings. After beginning his career at Tufts College, he joined the organization as an intern in 2002. After three years in New England, he left to become an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame while also working as a surgical assistant.In 2008, Waldron returned to New England to work in quality control and later coach tight ends.
He left after the 2009 season and had brief stints in the UFL, at the high school level and at UMass before returning to the pro level in 2016. He held the quality control position as the team’s offensive coordinator at the time in Washington. The following year, when McVay left for the Los Angeles Rams, he took Waldro with him. He initially coached tight ends, but was later named passing game coordinator and briefly quarterbacks coach.
His work in Los Angeles brought him to the attention of the Seattle Seahawks, who hired him as their offensive coordinator in 2021. After three years of work, he left as part of a reorganization of the team’s coaching staff. Waldron is one of four coaches interviewed so far for the Patriots’ vacant offensive coordinator job.
New head coach Jerod Mayo is also targeting former Rams assistants Zach Robinson and Nick Caley, as well as Cincinnati Bengals tight end Dan Pitcher. What ties these four together is a practice known as the Shanahan System.The Patriots’ offensive coordinator position was created last week when Bill O’Brien left after one season to take a job at Ohio State.
