Win or lose on Sunday, Patriots coach Bill Belichick will head into the 2018 season without two of his top assistants. Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is expected to take the Colts' coaching job while defensive coordinator Matt Patricia is expected to be the next Lions coach.

According to NBC Sports Boston's Gary Tanguay, former Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano is expected to interview for the Patriots' defensive coordinator job.

Schiano went 11-21 with the Bucs during the 2011 and 2012 seasons. Prior to that he turned around Rutgers' football program and he's been an assistant at Ohio State since 2016.

In November, the University of Tennessee planned to name Schiano its new coach, but quickly reversed its decision following public protests. At the time, Belichick, whose son played for Schiano at Rutgers, said he had "zero reservations" about Schiano's coaching abilities.

"He's one of the very best coaches I think in our profession, "Belichick told reporters, via the team's website. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg and the way he runs his program and the job that he does. I would say the most impressive thing for me is the way that our players, which we've had a lot of Rutgers players come through here, the loyalty and the I would say love of the program, the college program that they were in at Rutgers when he was there, how they maintained that for years and years after they had left. Not taking anything away from any other school, but I would just say that it's extremely strong."

And now the two men could be on the same staff.

Patriots linebackers coach Brian Flores, 36, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Patricia.