New England Patriots to hire former Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown, per report

Thomas Brown has found a new home.

The former Chicago Bears interim head coach will join head coach Mike Vrabel’s coaching staff in New England, according to a report from the NFL Network. Brown is set to become the Patriots' tight ends coach and passing game coordinator.

Brown, 38, began the 2024 season as the passing game coordinator in Chicago. He quickly rose through the ranks, first taking over as offensive coordinator after the Bears fired Shane Waldron on Nov. 12, then three weeks later taking over as interim head coach after the team fired Matt Eberflus.

Brown now heads to New England to work with Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. The Patriots hired McDaniels for a third stint as the OC. He held the job from 2006-08 and then again from 2012-21. McDaniels left in 2022 to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. He sat out the 2024 season after being fired by the Raiders, but Vrabel is giving McDaniels another shot as OC for the Patriots.

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Brown has never worked with Vrabel or McDaniels, but he will bring his experience in Sean McVay’s Rams offenses with him to New England. Brown coached various positions for the Rams from 2020-22. He spent one season in Carolina as the offensive coordinator in 2023 before joining Eberflus' staff last year.

Brown took over as interim head coach for the Bears after the team fired Eberflus on Nov. 29. It was a tough spot for any interim head coach. The Bears went 1-4 with Brown as the head coach, losing their first four games before a surprise win over the Packers in the season finale.

Brown interviewed for the full-time head coaching job in Chicago, but the Bears elected to go with an outside hire and bring in former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

During his end-of-season news conference, Brown noted that if he had been in charge of the offense from the beginning, his 2024 Bears offense would’ve looked “a lot different.”

“If you want to be a great team, want to be a great quarterback, want to be a great player, in general it’s built in the offseason, long before the camera is on you, long before you play a football game.”

—  Thomas Brown, former Bears interim head coach

“If you want to be a great team, want to be a great quarterback, want to be a great player, in general it’s built in the offseason, long before the camera is on you, long before you play a football game,” Brown said Jan. 6.

Although quarterback Caleb Williams made some progress with Brown as offensive coordinator, Johnson has decided to go a different direction at OC. The Bears reportedly are set to hire 28-year-old Declan Doyle, the Denver Broncos' tight ends coach, as his offensive coordinator in Chicago.

Brown will work with Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who was selected third overall, just a few spots behind Williams in the 2024 draft.