BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Chad O’Shea’s impact on the Patriots dates back roughly 22 years.
A wide receivers coach for the University of Houston, O’Shea was in Texas at a football camp for prospective recruits. One of his athletes, however, happened to be too small and too young for high school never mind college — Danny Amendola.
Amendola’s father, Willie Amendola, was a local high school coach so he received a free invite to participate at the camp.
“He was actually one of my positions coaches at the camp when I was 10,” Amendola said. “I remember he was commenting on my footwork when we were doing some drills and he offered me a fake scholarship. I was really excited. I was like, ‘dad I got an offer from a school!’ I really didn’t get an offer.”
Years later, when Amendola was a rookie with the Dallas Cowboys, he talked with O’Shea, a receivers coach for the Minnesota Vikings, prior to a preseason game. Amendola introduced himself and explained that O’Shea’s kind words did a lot for him and his confidence when he was young not thinking that he’d see him again.
Fast forward to this week and O’Shea has been Amendola’s position coach for the last five years in Foxboro. The Patriots receivers coach has been popular with his fellow coaches and players.
“Our relationship has really grown since. He’s a close friend of mine and close coach,” Amendola said. “He’s the best. I’ve known Chad for a really long time. He makes it fun to come to work. He demands a lot from us. He’s a great coach.”
After the Patriots handle their business in Super Bowl LII, O’Shea might become known to all Patriots fans. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will reportedly be named the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts following the Patriots matchup with the Philadelphia Eagles. In the event the Patriots promote within, O’Shea could be a top candidate along with assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski.
O’Shea has been coaching since 1996. He started with Houston around the time he first encountered Amendola. He entered the NFL in 2003 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He left for the Vikings in 2006. He became their receivers coach in 2007 and joined the Patriots in the same position in 2009.
Throughout the years, O’Shea has received more responsibility. Over the past two offseasons, he’s been seen calling the offensive plays in the preseason finale. This year, it was learned that O’Shea handles the Patriots red zone game-plan preparation. This week, McDaniels lauded O’Shea.
“Chad’s unbelievable. He’s one of the best assistant coaches I’ve ever had the chance to work with,” McDaniels said. “His players are always incredibly well prepared. He’s very detailed. They love playing for him. He’s got a great personality. He’s a good communicator. He’s incredibly responsible for any and all of our success in the red zone. He does a lot of that work and prepares us well for that situation in the game.
“He’s a great friend of mine. It’s hard for me to say, look, he can do a lot of things, there’s no doubt about it. He’s handled a lot of responsibilities before in his career and he does that till this day. we’re very fortunate that he’s a part of our staff.”
The admiration for O’Shea extends to the Patriots new receivers as well. In his first season working under the coach, Brandin Cooks started to beam when asked about O’Shea, who takes time to help all new receivers learn the Patriots complicated playbook
“Oh, C.O. You talk about a coach, he puts as much into it as the guys do,” Cooks said. “Ton of respect for coach O’Shea. He coaches us well. It’s a guy who comes to work and he brings it every day. He’s dedicated to the team in doing the best job he can to put us in the best positions to succeed.”
This week, O’Shea swatted away questions about a potential promotion. He, of course, is focused on the Eagles.
“Really, we’re focused and staying in the moment,” O’Shea said. “My job this week is to prepare the receivers the best I can for the game against a real good team. That’s what we’re doing.”