Patriots reportedly hiring another Alabama coach with ‘longtime connection’ to Bill O’Brien

Will Lawing has been with Alabama since 2021.

Bill Belichick and Bill O'Brien coaching the Patriots during the 2011 season. Globe Staff Photo/Jim Davis

February 3, 2023

Tonight, the Celtics face the Suns at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.

Also tonight, the NHL’s All-Star Weekend gets underway in Florida with the skills competition at 7 p.m. The All-Star game itself takes place on Saturday at 3 p.m.

This weekend, the Boston Pride host the Metropolitan Riveters at Warrior Ice Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. Boston will then play the Connecticut Whale at home on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Patriots coaching staff update: After adding Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator, it appears the Patriots may not be done hiring former Alabama coaches.

According to ESPN reporter Mike Reiss, New England is “adding” Alabama assistant Will Lawing. Lawing, 37, is officially listed as a “football analyst” with the Crimson Tide, where he worked alongside O’Brien for multiple seasons.

Coaching chatter: The Patriots are adding Will Lawing to their offensive staff.

Lawing, 37, has a longtime connection with new Patriots OC Bill O'Brien — at Penn State (2013), the Texans (2014-2020) and Alabama (2021-2022).

Worked with TEs his final 2 years at Houston.
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) February 3, 2023

Prior to that, Lawing coached with O’Brien at both Penn State and the Houston Texans. In his final years with Houston, Lawing was the team’s tight ends coach.

This could prove to be an important point, as the Patriots’ current tight ends coach, Nick Caley, has interviewed with multiple teams about vacant offensive coordinator positions. Caley’s contract is set to expire, so New England could be looking to fill the role.

Trivia: Can you name the starting quarterback for the Texans in the first of Bill O’Brien’s two playoff wins as Houston’s head coach? It was a 27-14 win over the Raiders on wild-card weekend in Jan. 2017.

(Answer at the bottom).

Hint: He started multiple games for the 2015 Broncos during Peyton Manning’s final season.

More from Boston.com:

An update from Tom Brady:

Now that I’m retired I have time to go see @80forBrady four separate times today.
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) February 3, 2023

On this day: In 2002, the Patriots shocked the world by defeating the heavily favored Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI 20-17. It was the team’s first title, and marked the foundational championship of the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady dynasty.

With a high-flying offense and championship experience, the Rams were heavy favorites against the unproven @Patriots.

But Super Bowl XXXVI did not go the way people expected. (Feb. 3, 2002) pic.twitter.com/uoPrBeIOWj
— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) January 28, 2019

Daily highlight: Dwayne Cohill won a wild triple overtime game for Youngstown State on a running buzzer-beater in a 91-89 victory over Wright State (who lost despite Trey Calvin scoring 44 points).