Andrew Buller-Russ
For a franchise that won six Super Bowls from 2001 to 2018 under the guidance of Bill Belichick, the recent results the New England Patriots are getting from the legendary coach haven’t met the usual standard. A year ago, the Patriots battled all season long, only to end up with eight wins and no playoff appearance for just the fifth time in Belichick’s then-23 years in New England.
This time around, the story is even worse, with the Patriots no longer competing for division titles or even Wild Card spots. Now, they’re competing for top draft picks.
Rumors have clouded over the organization from the start of the season, with reports suggesting Belichick could actually be fired, despite arguably being the greatest coach in NFL history. As they say, winning cures everything, but the Patriots haven’t been in the victory column nearly enough this year, and it’s led to complete turmoil.
Before the year began, the Patriots changed offensive coordinators, ousting an odd Joe Judge/Matt Patricia combination for an experienced hand in Bill O’Brien. Only, it’s led to even worse results, with an offense that ranked 17th in scoring in 2022 falling to dead last in the NFL in 2023. Yet, a new report suggests Belichick actually wanted to keep Patricia in his role, before giving into ownership’s request to seek outside help.
Related: Evaluating 5 New England Patriots coaching candidates to replace Bill Belichick
New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick-led coaching staff at odds
The Patriots haven’t gotten the results they were hoping for. Yet, based on the Boston Herald’s latest report from Andrew Callahan, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Taking information from over a dozen Patriots team sources, Callahan paints a picture of an offense without direction and a dysfunctional coaching staff.
“This was messed up from the beginning,” a locker-room source said.
“Nothing like I expected,” another said. “Not at all.”
Anonymous members of New England Patriots
When O’Brien arrived in New England, many assistants believed he wanted to start fresh and hire his own offensive coaching staff, yet aside from one hire, Belichick reportedly said no. When this one outside hire occurred, the feeling was that a clear power pyramid had been developed, with O’Brien at the top, his newly hired tight ends coach, then everyone else.
In response to this, a team source said, “The staff dynamic is completely f—ed.”
“It’s just a lot of bad s—,” a team source said. “Bad coaching.”
Others outside the front office pointed to a lack of talent on hand, taking shots at the team’s top decision-makers.
“We didn’t invest in the offensive line until the fourth round, didn’t take a receiver until the sixth,” another source said. “How do we spend the first three picks on defense when tackle was the biggest problem on the team last year?”
Then, there was the issues with the quarterback room, with former first-round pick Mac Jones showing no signs of growth in his third NFL season. Players inside the locker room could see it.
“We had no chance to win with Mac at quarterback,” a locker-room source said.
Yet, other teammates stood up for Jones, saying they didn’t think he got a fair shake his past couple years in New England, with a lack of a supporting cast, plus getting new play-callers in all three of his seasons. Obviously, not everyone agreed.
While there seems to be plenty of ugliness inside the Patriots’ organization, others suggest Belichick hasn’t lost his touch.
“The guys still respond to him,” a tenured Patriots source said of Belichick. “And goddamn, we have so many squad meetings where he shows them what’s going to happen in the game, and it always f–ing happens. Even down to what we can’t do, and then we end up f—ing doing it.”
Ultimately, this games comes down to execution, and the truth is, the Patriots haven’t done their jobs.
