The Patriots will waste little time replacing Brian Flores as the team is expected to hire Greg Schiano as its new defensive coordinator, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday.
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Schiano, who was the Buccaneers head coach from 2012-13, left his job as defensive coordinator at Ohio State last month to explore his options on the professional level.
Schiano, 52, interviewed for the same job last offseason before the Patriots decided to replace Matt Patricia with Flores, who was named the head coach for the Dolphins earlier this week.
Before his short, unsuccessful stint with the Bucs (11-21 in two seasons), Schiano spent a decade as the head coach at Rutgers where he coached current Patriots defensive backs Jason and Devin McCourty.
Patriots safeties coach and son of head coach Bill Belichick, Steve Belichick, also played for Schiano at Rutgers.