Patriots OC Search Shows Bill Belichick’s Comfort Is Above All

Patriots OC Search Shows Bill Belichick’s Comfort Is Above All

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All on hold while waiting for white smoke to rise over one Patriot Place. This shows that real, real Homo Sapiens were chosen to run the Patriots offense just like we saw on TV.

When that news drops, dig deeper into either: A) why hiring Bill O’Brien means the Patriots are coming back, or B) why the Patriots didn’t get Bill O’Brien.

While we wait, we can admit the Patriots cast a wider net than they did last offseason in The OC where they didn’t cast a net at all.

But the net is still not big. If you are not a friend of Bill B., you do not need to apply.

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All screened individuals have some sort of Belichick tie. Former Patriots OT Adrian Clemm was selected in the Patriots’ second-round draft in 2000. Keenan McCardell played for Belichick in Cleveland. Shawn Jefferson played wideout for the Patriots in his mid-to-late 90s, overlapping with Belichick in 1996. Nick Carey has been on staff since 2015 as a tight end coach. And O’Brien was clearly here.

The industry is full of aggressive coaches with fresh ideas and approaches.

But the only way to get Bill’s audience is by either having been hired by him before (Clem, McCardell, O’Brien) or sharing a locker room with him (Jefferson). It doesn’t matter if he has to go back 30 years to find that tie. Then he designs to give an audience.

The incest approach has clear advantages. Friendliness.

Coaches who have been around Belichick know the expectations, the hours and the meager pay. They know what Belichick considers “good” football. They knew that because they were coaching with him. Or hired by him through shared interests like lacrosse (Mike Pellegrino) in his early twenties, learning “good football” and not knowing any other way to attack a job.

The Patriots staff over the years was first occupied by people Belichick worked with, including Charlie Weiss and Romeo Clennell. Later, as these coaches moved on, they worked for Nick Saban (Josh McDaniels, Brian Dabor, etc.), worked as a ball boy for the Browns (Eric Mangini), played for Belichick (Pepper A young coach (Johnson) was hired and rose to a higher position. position.

The entire industry is a “you know…” business. Most do. But the Patriots are the most crunchy team in the league. closed loop. Bill Belichick’s comfort level rules it all.

Why did he continue to draft players from Rutgers? Because his son Stephen played there for head coach Greg Schiano. Belichick has come to trust Schiano (who spent about three days as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator in 2019). The Rutgers became the Patriots’ farm team.

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The Patriots have also weighed heavily on players from Urban Meyer in Florida and Ohio over the past decade. In his 14 of his 23 drafts for Belichick, he got multiple players from the same school. There are the usual suspects – he was an LSU and Alabama player when Saban was in charge. But in 2005, Pat had two from Hill’s Fresno State program, two from Texas A&M in 2003, and two from Georgia in 2018.

When Belichick is satisfied with the program and the people running it, he returns to it. This worked well with Logan Mankins and James Sanders (Fresno) or Devin McCourty, Duron Harmon and Logan Ryan (Rutgers). Not so with Myers players like Chad Jackson, Jermaine Cunningham and Aaron Hernandez.

No one stays a “made man” forever. Trust can evaporate. Ask Mangini. Or Flores. But if you stay to Bill’s right, Foxboro could be a safe harbor for your cold friend.

When Mike Lombardi was fired by the Browns in 2014, he went to work for the Patriots for two years. After Matt Patricia was fired by the Lions in 2020, Belichick kept him busy and licking his professional wounds. Joe Judge was fired by the Giants. He returned to New England. In each of these cases, the former team was hooked on paying the rest of the contract, presumably offset from the Patriots.

The Patriots were able to avoid receiving full shipments for them by calling them “advisors” and keeping their former employers paying them. Coach Brett Bierema and the Patriots have been pursued in court.

Patriots attorney Brandon Bigelow argued: …

“It’s clear what the Foundation is really doing is seeking improper leverage in a simple breach of contract dispute with a former coach…as this matter progresses, the dismissed college football We need to consider how it would appear to others that the Foundation is making unsubstantiated claims and harassing professional football teams for merely providing an opportunity for the coaches of

Interestingly, both Bierema and Lombardi transferred from the Patriots when their contracts with their previous employers expired and the Patriots had to start paying them. We’ll see if the same thing happens to Patricia, whose contract with the Lions has expired.

is the angle. Individuals win by working with Belichick’s right hand. Patriots get jobs at a discount rate. The competition to maintain Belichick’s grace is fierce.

What are the downsides of this incest related to this coaching search?

The pool of young men willing to work long hours for low pay in obscure positions needs to be stocked. Otherwise, you will have fewer future candidates. Especially coaches hired elsewhere to raid your staff. Like when Belichick came to New England in his 2000.

The past decade, when the team achieved success with Brady’s help, saw young coaches and executives flee in search of new jobs. McDaniels, Patricia and Brian Flores on the coach’s side. In terms of personnel, Nick Caserio and Monty Ossenfort. They leave, bring in coaching friends, and the staff shrinks. And the pool of experienced replacements will be shallow.

The blow Belichick has taken is unprecedented with coaches and executives leaving due to age and opportunity. It cannot be minimized. And no one knows it better than Belichick.

However, Belichick’s discomfort with teaching Flight and his desire to reward loyalty come at a price. Nick Carey ticked all the boxes last offseason when Josh McDaniels left. Carey went to John Carroll, like McDaniels and Caserio. He worked for Bierema in Arkansas. The 2015 offensive he was promoted from assistant to coach at the tight end where he spent five seasons under McDaniels.

Even if the team didn’t give him the OC title, he would make perfect sense as McDaniels’ successor. Instead, the Patriots stopped Kaley from going to Las Vegas with McDaniels, opting instead to make Patricia the playcaller/de facto offensive coordinator.

What did Kaley do in 2022 that made him interview-worthy when he wasn’t last January? Was installing Patricia “the best thing for the football team”? contract expiring after 2022) was the X Factor? Or was it the easiest and what made Belichick the most comfortable?

Clearly, O’Brien is a capable candidate. He is definitely a leader because of his experience as a head coach in college and his NFL and his experience as a high level OC him. But the experience levels of all other candidates remain modest, especially after last season’s setbacks—no one has ever been OC in the NFL. There is a learning curve for everyone if they are hired. But the box they check (who knows Bill Belichick and he appreciates Bill when the opportunity is offered) is the most important one.



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