Will The Patriots OC Experiment Work?
For years the New England Patriots have been the model for success in the national football league. However, after years of success, teams have begun to hire members of their coaching staff, scouting department, and even front office. However, despite the success, New England has done a lot of things in unorthodox methods for years.
No Announced, Defensive Coordinator
Bill Belichick next to son Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo
The defensive coordinator to Bill Belicheck has always been just a title as the play calling on defense has either been done by multiple coaches as it was last season by Jerod Mayo and Steve Belicheck.
Belicheck has also made previous coaches earn the title of defensive coordinator an example is when Matt Patricia called the defense for multiple seasons before he was finally given the title of defensive coordinator.
2. Belicheck General Manager and Head Coach
Some teams in Professional Sports have the head coach serving as general manager and head coach. In the NFL this also occurs, some teams do not have official general managers, but instead, have a de facto GM. Similar positions include President of Football Operations. Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots is an example of a coach who is the de facto general manager; he has never been officially named or granted the title of general manager but he has the final say in football operations.
3.No Offensive Coordinator
Going into the 2022-23 NFL season the Patriots have not listed an offensive coordinator instead listing coaches Joe Judge and Matt Patricia as offensive play callers. Both of these are extremely different hires as both of them are not known for their decision-making on the offensive side of the ball. More so both have a terrible history of working with and developing quarterbacks, and the most important part of the New England Patriots' future is the development of Mac Jones.
Ultimately the Patriot's past hires point to a system of success with offensive coordinators Josh Mcdaniels and Bill O’Brien both having received head coach offers in the past and formerly being head coaches. As shown these two getting offers for head coaching positions shows the desire from teams to hire patriots personnel. This in turn gives Bill Belicheck more of an incentive to not appoint an offensive coordinator and leave it up to the public to guess. My opinion however is that the experiment probably will not work as a young quarterback in Mac Jones needs consistency and the patriot’s current committee approach will be anything but that.