Patriots Enter 2023 With Unusual Transparency

The New England Patriots for two decades have been surrounded by mystique and cloudiness. Season after season Bill Belichick has relished in the unknown. Working quietly in the shadows. And for years, it worked.

There’s a reason Belichick is considered the greatest coach of all time. He’s so well respected across the league for just his aura of mystery alone. But could some of that magic be wearing off with recent years of struggles out of Foxboro?

Ever since the departure of legendary quarterback Tom Brady three years ago, the Patriots have failed to adjust their philosophy. Belichick operated as if nothing had changed. He waited for the last option at quarterback in 2020 and signed Cam Newton just before training camp began. In the 2021 NFL Draft after going 7-9 with Newton, waited at pick 15 and selected Mac Jones, the fifth of five quarterbacks taken in the first round that year. The Patriots waiting for the pieces to drop is a tried and true system. They’ve done it basically since the day Belichick was hired. But does that work when you don’t have the greatest player of all time to cover up the mistakes?

Most recently, when offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels took a head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022, Belichick didn’t seek a replacement immediately as most other organizations do. Instead, he did things his own way. Bringing Matt Patricia down from his senior advisor role to become the offensive line coach as well as an offensive play caller. Meanwhile, Joe Judge was re-hired as an offensive assistant and became the quarterback coach in Mac Jones’s second season.

Change was necessary

After another disappointing 8-9 campaign, it was obvious that things could not operate just the same way they have been. There is no Brady to mask up inefficiencies or bad calls along the football personnel. Belichick can’t just wing it on the offensive side of the ball and expect great success. Mac Jones needs a little more help than that. And that starts with finding a real offensive coordinator who has a history of calling offensive plays.

On Thursday, the Patriots did something they never had before. Allowed fans and media into their off-season process. They put out a press release that informed the masses that they would not only be looking to extend linebacker coach Jerod Mayo, who is getting looks around the league as an official defensive coordinator and head coach. But that they would also be looking for an “offensive coordinator”. Their words, not mine.

Unprecedented: The #Patriots announce they are working toward keeping Jerod Mayo and that team will begin OC interviews next week. pic.twitter.com/1RoSjFoSk3

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2023

This is a rarity out of Foxboro. And maybe this is Robert Kraft forcing Belichick’s hand. After going four straight seasons without a playoff win, Kraft may be putting his hands back on the wheel a bit. Just enough to steer the ship in a direction that makes the fans happy, but not enough to undermine Belichick’s credibility.

Turning a new leaf?

This announcement comes after a highly anticipated between the Patriots’ owner and head coach in the last 72 hours. Where Belichick reportedly admitted his faults and mistakes in handling the offensive coaching staff in 2022 and promised immediate changes. But could Belichick be trusted to get to work immediately on his own? He’s going to be 71 in April and has never made it a priority to go after anybody. Whether it be a player or a coach. They always return to him (Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, Joe Judge, etc.) or they are developed from the ground up (Brian Flores, Jerod Mayo, Steve Belichick). I’d be shocked if the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach suddenly changed his philosophy on this matter without influence from the Krafts.

Other teams have already gotten to work on filling holes in their coaching staff. Interview requests are running rampant, and some have even been completed. But so far, the Patriots, as they have always done, have remained silent, working in the shadows. But now it seems a hand has been forced, one way or another. And we will probably know who the Patriots will be looking at in a more traditional format we see across the league. Will it be former coordinator and Texans head coach Bill O’Brien? Could Kliff Kingsbury make a return to New England as a fresh set of eyes on the offense? Media outlets across the region have tied those two names to the job in Foxboro.

Moving forward

This new sense of transparency from the Patriots and Bill Belichick is unprecedented but certainly welcome. After three seasons of non-answers, mystery, and behind-the-scenes handling resulting in a 25-25 record, the act was getting old. Belichick wasn’t fooling anybody anymore. And a good chunk of his good faith with Patriots fans was deservedly cut. Calling for his job is premature, agreed. But football is a big boy business. “What have you done for me lately?” is a motto the industry of sport lives by. And Belichick’s resume lately is subpar.

A change of direction was overdue, and this move to allow the masses to view the process so publicly is a big step in the right direction. Even if 31 other NFL franchises do it already. Not all traditionalist practices are bad. The Patriots don’t need to be the rebel and find alternative routes all the time. After three years of obscurity sending this team backward, I think a return to normalcy is a welcome sight for Patriots fans and may take some of the heat off of Belichick’s seat.

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