Bill Belichick's Successor: Tedy Bruschi?

[upstater1]

The recruiting rankings, IMO, are a joke.

Larry Coker's assistants recently admitted in an article that they paid too much attention to the rankings and that's why they struggled.

Darius Butler is a good example. One star guy with all world skills. A coach who looks at a player like that, with excellent athleticism, and has the ability to coach him up, that coach is going to be successful. Most players coming out of high school are raw. It's a crap shoot.

 

[Wildo7]

The academic requirements for players at ND are just too high. That school will never be able to compete in recruiting with the top programs. The difference in the college athlete now and back when ND was dominant is huge, and no kid is going to be allured to a school that places the emphasis on academics first. The glory and luster that attracted recruits to ND is gone in the eyes of kids prepping to try and get in the NFL.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Entry level meaning one of their defensive assistants or as their ILB coach?

If he's not in there directly coaching the team would also utilize his charitable and PR applications with a job in the front office like they did with Andre Tippett.

Hard to say how Bill might approach a request by Tedy to break into coaching, assuming he doesn't set Tedy up with a job away from the Pats to get his feet wet, I'd expect something like Offensive assistant or Special Teams assistant, and not necessarily the Quality Control Assistant, something generic with no more title than "heh Tedy." He'd be available to the defense, but get him some exposure on the other side of the ball to see how well he picks up the fine points of developing a RT or running a route as a WR, then applies what he knows to making a player better. I don't think there's much he doesn't know about playing ILB and teaching the techniques, but take him away from the kids he's groomed to take his place and assign him to Coach Scarnecchia to teach the guys he made miserable trying to block him how to keep those young LBs out of the play. Tedy was a high school wrestler and DT, he understands leverage and hand position, he can teach OL or TE, breakdown tape, make up playbooks, fetch coffee, whatever. Give him a couple years to make guys forget he was just one of them and is now "coach Tedy." Then you can make him the LB or DL coach when you move Coach Patricia or Coach Pepper to a new slot.

 

[Fencer]

The guy I want as BB's successor is Mike Vrabel. Charismatic among players (like Bruschi, even if in a different way), book-smart (probably much more than Bruschi), knowledgeable about many positions and parts of the game (even more than Bruschi), leader.

 

[efin98]

Hard to say how Bill might approach a request by Tedy to break into coaching, assuming he doesn't set Tedy up with a job away from the Pats to get his feet wet, I'd expect something like Offensive assistant or Special Teams assistant, and not necessarily the Quality Control Assistant, something generic with no more title than "heh Tedy." He'd be available to the defense, but get him some exposure on the other side of the ball to see how well he picks up the fine points of developing a RT or running a route as a WR, then applies what he knows to making a player better. I don't think there's much he doesn't know about playing ILB and teaching the techniques, but take him away from the kids he's groomed to take his place and assign him to Coach Scarnecchia to teach the guys he made miserable trying to block him how to keep those young LBs out of the play. Tedy was a high school wrestler and DT, he understands leverage and hand position, he can teach OL or TE, breakdown tape, make up playbooks, fetch coffee, whatever. Give him a couple years to make guys forget he was just one of them and is now "coach Tedy." Then you can make him the LB or DL coach when you move Coach Patricia or Coach Pepper to a new slot.

Hadn't considered his experience with the defense would be usable to teach the offense...but makes sense- who better to know how to shed a tackle or make a better block than the guy whose job it was to shed blocks and make tackles.

 

[Pats Fanatic]

Tedy may go into couching but I think that his calling is the broadcast booth, he is great on TV and I think he likes being on TV.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Tedy may go into couching but I think that his calling is the broadcast booth, he is great on TV and I think he likes being on TV.

Nice one!

To be a great head coach, you need to be an analyst, a teacher, a motivator, a competitor and a scout. I think that BB scores at the top for 1,2,4 and 5. From what people like Ellis say, number 3 then comes more or less automatically (he doesn't move people to tears but they follow him because he's honest with them and they trust him to put them in a position to win).

I don't know if it's still possible for someone who has played the game into their thirties still to have all of those dimensions.

How many current head coaches played in the NFL? I can only think of Singletary, Jauron and Whisenhunt. There must be others -- someone help me, please!

 

[efin98]

How many current head coaches played in the NFL? I can only think of Singletary, Jauron and Whisenhunt. There must be others -- someone help me, please!

Jim Zorn.
Gary Kubiak.
Jack Del Rio.
Jeff Fisher.
Sean Payton('87 replacement player)
Tom Cable(camp fodder or may have been replacement player)

Mike Smith played in the CFL if that counts...

Others played alongside and against top level NFL talent in college.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Thanks! (I should at least have remembered Kubiak and Del Rio).

 

[maverick4]

Tedy may go into couching but I think that his calling is the broadcast booth, he is great on TV and I think he likes being on TV.

I hope Tedy, Rodney, and McGinest get on TV every week so we get more balanced perspective on Pats-related mainstream media, and also to bump all those boring ex-Cowboys out of the booths.

 

[DarrylS]

Not confident that Tedy will be his successor.. he may be part of the coaching tree and a future consideration.. these guys have to pay their dues before they advance to such a lofty position.. I suspect another "cerebral" type who has a lot of experience, paid his "dues" as the next coach... BB will undoubtedly have his say in that choice and future choices.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Memo to Coach Bruschi

Mayo and Gostkowski are excellent positional coaches - but you might want to consider upgrading your QB Coach and TE Coach.

 

[Lloyd_Christmas]

Interesting story.

Bruschi told the Globe that upon retiring, he is interested in coaching, going so far as to say he has mentally organized practice stations on the field.

Smart, passionate, team-first, organized. Fans would be delighted to see Bruschi take a coaching position with the Patriots upon retirement. "A player on the sideline" after being a coach on the field.

Patriots’ Bruschi blows whistle: He eventually wants to coach - The Boston Globe

I think Bruschi has a shot at becoming an assistant and perhaps working his way up, if successful.

However, Bill Belichick's Successor? Let's not put him in Canton just yet... he's got a long way to go before that kind of talk.