Bill Belichick will tell you that every offseason presents unique challenges. This offseason, the challenge is obvious. Belichick is going to have to figure out what to do with the lack of experience within his coaching and front-office ranks.
Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler are the latest high-ranking Patriots staffers to leave. Running backs coach Ivan Fears, a cornerstone in the locker room and a player-favorite, is expected to retire. Linebackers coach Jerod Mayo is also taking interviews around the NFL for coaching positions.
That all follows the recent departures of front-office executives Nick Caserio (Houston’s GM), Ernie Adams (retired), Monti Ossenfort (Titans director of players personnel) and position and coordinators like Dante Scarnecchia (retired), Brian Flores (former Dolphins head coach), Joe Judge (former Giants head coach), Jerry Schuplinski (Giants QBs coach), Chad O’Shea (Browns passing-game coordinator) and Patrick Graham (Giants DC), among others. The level of brain drain is staggering for Belichick, who can’t seem to develop smart staffers without immediately losing them.
Belichick will promote from within his ranks and likely search for potential replacements from outside his ranks, something he hasn’t had to do in quite some time. (Maybe the recent-firings of his former coordinators has created opportunities to rehire them — something Belichick could and should explore.) Regardless, he will face the challenge of readying relatively inexperienced coaches for their promotions or training outsiders with football experience about The Patriot Way — or reassimilate former Patriots coaches after failed experiences elsewhere.
It should be no small task, as Belichick continues his rebuild around quarterback Mac Jones. The first step is to hire a new offensive coordinator and director of player personnel, two of the four most important positions below Belichick (including the three coordinator jobs and the DoPP). New England needs to spend the offseason readying Jones for a season where the team will have bigger expectations after a one-and-done playoff appearance. The Patriots also have to figure out what to do about their substantial pending free agent class — which includes J.C. Jackson, Trent Brown, Devin McCourty, Matthew Slater and Dont’a Highotwer, among others — while their cap space sits at roughly $10 million.
There’s always a lot of puzzling to do when it comes to team building. It’s just that Belichick has less experienced help than ever. Yet again Belichick has a massive test of his brilliance in 2022.
