Robert Kraft's Press Conference

[Ross12]

There are a lot of ways that it could be argued if you were Wolf.

1) I didn't get to implement any of the changes I wanted to make last year because I was not the "GM" yet
2) I didn't have the staff around me that I wanted/needed yet, I was largely stuck with Bill's old staff
3) Some of my picks did develop (Maye, Milton, Robinson, Dial)
4) Some of my picks didn't develop due to injury (Wallace)
5) Some of my picks didn't develop due to **** coaching (Polk, Baker)
6) I wanted to sign much better players in free agency, and I did try, but no one wanted to come play for Jerod Mayo
7) With a good coaching staff, and me fully in my new role, we will draft better, develop the picks better, and actually be able to successfully sign premium and mid-tier free agents

 

[Thelonious]

He stopped short of saying he doesn't have time to wait for Mayo to get it, but it seemed to me that's where he was going. At one point, I thought he was going to say that he didn't have time, but had a long pause first. Wants one more shot at a title before he steps down, can't do it or lies down.

He can still participate in running team to a degree. It is his team, after all, but he needs to step back and let Johnathan take the lead. As I approached the end of my career, as a teacher, I gave up being department head and kept on teaching but only at a 60% level. This was great for me and the school and the students. I continued to teach part time for several years at a very high level. Robert need not park his beach chair in Bimini and stare off at the horizon, - he isn't the sort of hapless drooling wreck and fool our current "President" is - but it is time for him to surrender part of his job. He has that option, and he should exercise it

 

[Thelonious]

There are a lot of ways that it could be argued if you were Wolf.

1) I didn't get to implement any of the changes I wanted to make last year because I was not the "GM" yet
2) I didn't have the staff around me that I wanted/needed yet, I was largely stuck with Bill's old staff
3) Some of my picks did develop (Maye, Milton, Robinson, Dial)
4) Some of my picks didn't develop due to injury (Wallace)
5) Some of my picks didn't develop due to **** coaching (Polk, Baker)
6) I wanted to sign much better players in free agency, and I did try, but no one wanted to come play for Jerod Mayo
7) With a good coaching staff, and me fully in my new role, we will achieve all of this:
a) Drafting will be better
b) The picks will develop properly
c) Free agents will actually want to come sign here

Yeah, losers ALWAYS have excuses: so what?

 

[Mack Herron]

Isn't that backwards? Usually an "arranged marriage" from a football standpoint is when the HC is hired first and then the GM is forced to keep the HC. That is what happened LAST year - the HC was hired first (Mayo) and then they made Wolf the "GM" in the spring and he was stuck with Mayo. Wolf is the one who was stuck in an "arranged marriage".

This year they are actually doing it the traditional way - they have their "GM" hired in Wolf and are leaning on him to help pick an HC. That is very normal and proper.

Fine to let a GM hire a coach, but 2 issues:

1. Wolf will not select the coach. It will be a group decision with diffuse responsibility ultimately falling at the feet of Kraft.

2. Wolf and his new grading system aimed at 2 key needs in the draft and free agency—WR and OT—and he struck out on both. The evidence suggests he just isn’t very good at finding talent.

 

[PatsFan2]

I think Robert Kraft did a great job considering he genuinely has respect for Mayo as a person…and even as a successful coach in the future.

He made it clear what was behind the decision (“in-game adjustments”, further coaching experience needed, desire to be a playoff team next year) and we know it doesn't end there.

He also deftly handled the question about Wolf, in that he suggested others would be involved (Highsmith), while certainly leaving the door open for a new GM being hired/appointed. The bad draft comments alone suggests that Wolf/Groh will no longer enjoy the same slice of that power base going forward.

A good leader never criticizes in public…only in private…so Kraft managed to skirt many direct questions calling for such a critique.

Patriots fans, especially the newer fans, should trust in Kraft’s decision because the underlying factors transcend Mayo himself, while going significantly back into the BB regime. His mention of the “new grading system” (drafts) appears to be a step that was already taken in that regard. The exigency of the moment forces the Krafts’ to focus on the head coach right now (Vrabel, for example, already interviewing with the Jets, and Johnson currently making his own interview decisions), but other leadership decisions could still occur down the road. In addition, a savvy owner would keep current “Management Staff” in place while privately searching for an alternative. In that manner they could ultimately offer some of the existing players an opportunity to stay onboard (“continuity”) during a reshuffling of the deck…or allow them to leave.

Lastly, for all the fans thinking that it’s just Robert and Jonathan making all the decisions, with no trusted voices in the background, that’s just not how big business owners operate. I am 100% sure they have been conferring/consulting with other wise folks for the past couple of months.

Great summary.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

The issue is Highsmith wasn't hired until right before training camp. He wasn't involved in the coach search or draft last year. He will be this time.

Wikipedia says he was hired February 7, 2024.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alonzo_Highsmith

 

[Thelonious]

Wolf did not have his new role last year, he was just doing "business as usual" from his prior role. Technically speaking 2025 will be his first draft as the EVP where he will have had the latitude to start changing things.

Excuses: they all smell.

 

[PatsFan2]

Fine to let a GM hire a coach, but 2 issues:

1. Wolf will not select the coach. It will be a group decision with diffuse responsibility ultimately falling at the feet of Kraft.

2. Wolf and his new grading system aimed at 2 key needs in the draft and free agency—WR and OT—and he struck out on both. The evidence suggests he just isn’t very good at finding talent.

Mack post more.

 

[TommyD4207]

Wikipedia says he was hired February 7, 2024.
Alonzo Highsmith - Wikipedia

He was, but he didn't get here full-time until July, he had to wrap up as Football Ops Dir at Miami.

 

[RobertWeathers]

There are a lot of ways that it could be argued if you were Wolf.

1) I didn't get to implement any of the changes I wanted to make last year because I was not the "GM" yet
2) I didn't have the staff around me that I wanted/needed yet, I was largely stuck with Bill's old staff
3) Some of my picks did develop (Maye, Milton, Robinson, Dial)
4) Some of my picks didn't develop due to injury (Wallace)
5) Some of my picks didn't develop due to **** coaching (Polk, Baker)
6) I wanted to sign much better players in free agency, and I did try, but no one wanted to come play for Jerod Mayo
7) With a good coaching staff, and me fully in my new role, we will draft better, develop the picks better, and actually be able to successfully sign premium and mid-tier free agents

Good argument.

He screwed the pooch on the Tackle situation. Major miscalculation there.

 

[Steve102]

He can still participate in running team to a degree. It is his team, after all, but he needs to step back and let Johnathan take the lead. As I approached the end of my career, as a teacher, I gave up being department head and kept on teaching but only at a 60% level. This was great for me and the school and the students. I continued to teach part time for several years at a very high level. Robert need not park his beach chair in Bimini and stare off at the horizon, - he isn't the sort of hapless drooling wreck and fool our current "President" is - but it is time for him to surrender part of his job. He has that option, and he should exercise it

Someone else said, and I think it's accurate, that staying on the front of it keeps him relevant in the celebrity world. Once he becomes "Chairman Emeritus" like Art Rooney was later in life, then he will cease to have any of that juice that having "NFL owner" on his business card brings.

 

[PatsFan2]

That was the Krafts being Cheap... they got what they paid for AJ already pointed that out.

 

[Ross12]

Fine to let a GM hire a coach, but 2 issues:

1. Wolf will not select the coach. It will be a group decision with diffuse responsibility ultimately falling at the feet of Kraft.

2. Wolf and his new grading system aimed at 2 key needs in the draft and free agency—WR and OT—and he struck out on both. The evidence suggests he just isn’t very good at finding talent.

I don't mean to be a "Wolf defender" here or anything but I just have a really hard time fully checking out on Wolf simply because his draft picks failed to develop under one of the worst coaching staffs I've ever seen.

If they did fire him, I wouldn't have shed any tears, but I don't have any qualms about them trying to see if maybe Wolf was just screwed by this awful staff as long as their HC candidates are good with him. If they love a coach but Wolf doesn't, or that coach doesn't like Wolf, then they will need to make some hard decisions.

 

[Hammer of Thor]

He was, but he didn't get here full-time until July, he had to wrap up as Football Ops Dir at Miami.

Got it, so he wasn’t fully involved at that point - basically hired in February for a job that starts in July type of a deal? If that’s the case, that makes me feel a bit better.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Yeah, losers ALWAYS have excuses: so what?

Sure but nothing he said was incorrect.

 

[Ross12]

Good argument.

He screwed the pooch on the Tackle situation. Major miscalculation there.

Playing devil's advocate a little bit... How do we know he DIDN'T try to sign other tackles in free agency, but they had no interest in coming to play for Mayo? So he was stuck with rummaging in the bargain bin for Okorafor? And then how would he ever know that Okorafor would literally quit football because this staff sucks so bad?

 

[Hammer of Thor]

Not unless the GM has final say. That’s not the case here, so the two sides are going to complain to ownership about each other.

Get a coach and GM combo and let them work together.

You’d think Bob would remember that from the Grier and Petey days.

Of course, the Grier and Petey days seem like glory days compared with the Mayo era…..

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

I think the angst about retaining guys (so far) is overplayed. I think the new coach will decide who to retain or hire, even the GM, and should demand that right as soon as he decides to interview.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Playing devil's advocate a little bit... How do we know he DIDN'T try to sign other tackles in free agency, but they had no interest in coming to play for Mayo? So he was stuck with rummaging in the bargain bin for Okorafor? And then how would he ever know that Okorafor would literally quit football because this staff sucks so bad?

I get what you are trying to do.

Okorafor was a problem in Pittsburgh. Just not a stable person and to have him be the starting LT was very risky.

Also drafting a RT to hope can play LT was also a gamble.

Not saying they cant work out but very risky moves.

maybe he did try to sign OLs and they chose not to come. Very possible.

 

[Clonamery]

I don't mean to be a "Wolf defender" here or anything but I just have a really hard time fully checking out on Wolf simply because his draft picks failed to develop under one of the worst coaching staffs I've ever seen.

If they did fire him, I wouldn't have shed any tears, but I don't have any qualms about them trying to see if maybe Wolf was just screwed by this awful staff as long as their HC candidates are good with him. If they love a coach but Wolf doesn't, or that coach doesn't like Wolf, then they will need to make some hard decisions.

Wolf is going to be a hard sell to coaches if his intent is to blame coaching with him sitting in the interviews. Guy like Rex Ryan would eat that up but that's not who will be there.