Patriots reportedly add Chargers assistant to offensive coordinator search. Here’s what to know about Marcus Brady.
Brady is the second known candidate to have either interviewed or be requested for an interview for the Patriots' offensive coordinator job.
Mike Vrabel’s search for his offensive coordinator in his first season as Patriots head coach appears to be well underway.
The Patriots have requested permission from the Chargers to interview pass game coordinator Marcus Brady for their offensive coordinator position, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported Friday.
Brady is the second known candidate to have either been interviewed or been requested to interview for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator role. Bears interim head coach and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown met with the team to interview for the position Tuesday, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport previously reported.
Brady, 45, has risen up the NFL coaching ranks after spending time in the CFL as a player and an assistant coach. Prior to joining Jim Harbaugh’s staff in Los Angeles in 2024, Brady was hired by Frank Reich when he became the Colts head coach in 2018. He worked his way up from assistant quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator by the start of the 2021 season. After getting fired in the middle of the 2022 season, Brady joined the Eagles as an offensive consultant for the remainder of that year and for the 2023 season.
In his eight-year coaching career, Brady has worked with a handful of notable quarterbacks. He served as a quarterbacks coach for Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, and Philip Rivers. He was an offensive coordinator for Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan. He worked with Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia and Justin Herbert in Los Angeles this past season.
Herbert arguably had the best season of his career while working alongside Brady. He threw for 3,870 yards, 23 touchdowns, and three interceptions to go with career highs in yards per attempt (7.7) and passer rating (101.7).
However, Brady wasn’t able to elevate the Colts’ quarterbacks during his two seasons as offensive coordinator. Wentz put up a decent stat line with 3,563 passing yards, 27 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, but the Colts moved on from him following the 2021 season. Ryan struggled under Brady, throwing nine interceptions in seven games before getting benched.
The Colts’ offense was in the middle of the pack in total yards in Brady’s first season, ranking 16th while finishing ninth in scoring. A year later, the Colts’ offense finished 27th in total offense and 30th in scoring.
Brady played quarterback in the CFL for seven seasons (2002-08), making stops with the Toronto Argonauts, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and Montreal Alouettes after his college career at Cal State Northridge. Mostly serving as a backup, Brady threw for 3,321 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions while rushing for 679 yards and six touchdowns in his CFL career.
The Alouettes hired Brady as wide receivers coach right after his final playing season. He helped them win two Grey Cups in that role before becoming their offensive coordinator in 2012. He left to become the Argonauts’ offensive coordinator in 2013, helping them win a Grey Cup in 2017.
As Brady has worked under Reich and Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni (who was previously a Colts assistant with Brady), it might show a trend of what Vrabel is looking for out of his next offensive coordinator. Brown also worked under Reich, serving as his offensive coordinator when the latter was the head coach of the Panthers. Reich typically ran a West Coast-style offense in his previous stops, though Brown also worked under Sean McVay with the Rams.
The Patriots haven’t officially stated if they’re moving on from Alex Van Pelt yet, but the fact that they’re conducting interviews with other coaches for his role would suggest that he won’t be offensive coordinator again in 2025. New England’s offense ranked 31st in yards and 30th in scoring under Van Pelt.
Several offensive position coaches have already left the Patriots following the 2024 season. Tight ends coach Bob Bicknell, running backs coach Taylor Embree, wide receivers coach Tyler Hughes, coaching assistant Keith Jones, and assistant wide receivers coach Tiquan Underwood won’t be back in New England for the 2025 season, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported.
So, whoever is hired as offensive coordinator will have to help fill out a few positions on the coaching staff beneath him. But Vrabel indicated it might be some time before that happens, telling WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” Tuesday that he has a “long list” of offensive coordinator candidates.
“It’s a long process. It’s one that, you know, will go out a few weeks, Vrabel said. “It could go out longer than that, right? It’s always delicate when you have teams that are continuing to play in the playoffs, potentially the movement that could occur with coaches on other staffs and related to their contracts.”
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