Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown interviewed for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job this week, a source confirmed to the Herald.

Brown, 37, was permitted to interview while Carolina conducted a head-coaching search that concluded Thursday night with the hiring of Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Brown joined the Panthers last year after serving as a Rams offensive assistant from 2020-22. Of the five coaches known to have interviewed for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator position, Brown is the fourth with experience working under Rams head coach Sean McVay.

The other candidate, new Bengals offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher, coached a McVay-style system in Cincinnati under ex-Rams assistant Zac Taylor. According to the NFL Network, the Patriots also plan to interview Lions pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand, a four-year NFL coach who worked with Detroit’s tight ends last year after spending his first two seasons as an offensive assistant. Engstrand also spent time in the XFL as an offensive coordinator and in college at the University of Michigan (2018) and University of San Diego (2005-17).

Over his 12 years in coaching, Brown has spent nine of them coaching running backs. He bounced around the collegiate ranks from 2011-2015, then served as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach at the University of Miami from 2016-18. That led to a one-year stint at South Carolina, before he made a lateral move to Los Angeles as the Rams’ new running backs coach in 2020.

The following year, Brown added an assistant head coach title, and the McVay-led Rams won the Super Bowl. In 2022, he moved to tight ends coach and jumped to Carolina last offseason. At the time, Brown was considered one of the hottest coordinator candidates on the market.

His rapid rise did not translate, however, to the Panthers, who averaged a league-worst 13.1 points per game last season. Rookie quarterback Bryce Young also struggled mightily after being selected with the No. 1 overall pick last year. Before he was fired, Reich handed play-calling duties to Brown to spark the offense and then took them back.

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Brown’s interview means the Patriots have satisfied the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which mandates at least one interview with an external, minority candidate for open coordinator positions. His interview follows reported interviews with Rams tight ends coach Nick Caley, an ex-Patriots assistant, Rams quarterbacks coach/passing game coordinator Zac Robinson, new Bears offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Pitcher.

Patriots coach Jerod Mayo opened his offensive coordinator search a week after initiating interviews for his defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator jobs. There is no established timeline for any of the searches, which are all ongoing. The Patriots have complied with the Rooney Rule for all three positions, meaning they could make a hire at any time.

During Mayo’s searches, the Patriots have lost candidates to other jobs. Former Steelers assistant defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander agreed to become the Raiders’ new safeties coach after reportedly interviewing for the Pats’ defensive coordinator job. Pitcher was promoted from quarterbacks coach to coordinator in Cincinnati, while Waldron picked Chicago over the Patriots. Waldron hit the market after spending three years as the offensive coordinator in Seattle.

Meanwhile Robinson, a five-year coaching veteran, is considered a prime candidate to become the Falcons’ new offensive coordinator under head coach Raheem Morris. Morris and Robinson worked on the same staff in Los Angeles the past three years.

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If Robinson leaves for Atlanta, that would leave Caley and Brown as the only known candidates for the Patriots’ offensive coordinator job. Neither coach has any experience developing quarterbacks, something Mayo figures to value heading into an offseason when the team is expected to either draft a quarterback or sign a new veteran. Mayo’s candidate pool indicates he intends to bring in a new offensive system, likely from the McVay tree.

Two years ago, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick and then offensive line coach and play-caller Matt Patricia attempted to meld the team’s offense under ex-offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels with a version of McVay’s system. That led to what was then the worst offensive campaign of the Belichick era, which resulted in Patricia and the organization parting ways.

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Despite pivoting to a more experienced coordinator and play-caller and coordinator in Bill O’Brien, the Patriots fell even further and averaged 12.9 offensive points per game.  Four days before Mayo opened his interviews by meeting virtually with Caley, O’Brien left to accept the offensive coordinator job at Ohio State.

It’s unclear where the rest of the Patriots’ offensive staff — running backs coach Vinnie Sunseri, wide receivers coach Troy Brown, tight ends coach Will Lawing (an O’Brien loyalist) and offensive line coach Adrian Klemm — stands amid the offensive coordinator search. At the end of the season, Klemm, who left the team midseason and was hospitalized for two months due to a serious health issue, was not expected to return.

Brown’s interview was first reported by CBS Sports.