The New England Patriots caught up to the news on Thursday by announcing the hiring of Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien as their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

O’Brien’s departure from the Crimson Tide to return to the NFL had been reported on Tuesday, and the East-West Shrine Bowl confirmed the addition of O’Brien to the New England staff on Wednesday.

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The Patriots’ staff is in charge of one of the teams at the all-star game, and the East-West Shrine Bowl announcement of its coaching staffs said Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo and O’Brien will work in supervisory roles while wide-receivers coach Troy Brown leads the rest of the New England staff as the head coach.

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The announcement by the Patriots on Thursday included a statement from Belichick, who is preparing for his 24th season as New England’s head coach.

“I am looking forward to working with Bill again,” Belichick said. “He is an outstanding coach and an asset to our staff.”

O’Brien originally joined the New England staff in 2007 as an offensive assistant and served as wide-receivers coach in 2008 and quarterbacks coach in 2009 and 2010. O’Brien added the offensive-coordinator title in 2011.

O’Brien called plays in the final three seasons of his first stint with the Patriots, and New England finished sixth, first and third in the NFL in scoring in 2009, 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Officially, O’Brien is replacing no one as offensive coordinator. After offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels left last offseason to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, Belichick did not name a successor.

For the 2022 NFL season, former Patriots staff member, Alabama assistant coach and New York Giants head coach Joe Judge served as offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach, and former New England defensive coordinator and Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia called the plays, although his titles were senior football advisor and offensive-line coach.

Under that arrangement, the Patriots dropped from sixth in the NFL scoring in 2021 to 17th in 2022 and from a 10-7 playoff team to an 8-9 non-playoff team.

Former Alabama All-American Mac Jones worked as New England’s quarterback in both seasons. He played in the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Last season, an ankle injury sidelined Jones for three games and most of a fourth.

O’Brien left the Patriots to become head coach at Penn State in 2012. O’Brien came to Alabama in 2021 after being fired four games into his seventh season as the head coach of the Houston Texans in 2020.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.