But make no mistake: O’Shea is a leading candidate to replace McDaniels as New England’s next offensive coordinator.
Widely respected within the organization, O’Shea has coached more than just the receivers in recent years.
“Chad’s unbelievable,” McDaniels said. “He’s incredibly responsible for any and all of our success in the red zone. He does a lot of that work and prepares us well for that situation in the game.”
Said Pats receiver Chris Hogan: “I love playing for Chad. He brings a lot of passion to the game and to this team.”
O’Shea’s career path doesn’t align with the typical trajectory of Patriots assistants. He didn’t start from the bottom in the New England organization like McDaniels, Matt Patricia, Nick Caserio, and Brian Flores (a candidate to take over at defensive coordinator in 2018). A college quarterback at Marshall and the University of Houston, O’Shea began coaching in the college ranks. He left Southern Miss in 2002 to take a volunteer job with the Kansas City Chiefs.