The Patriots Need to start Hiring Coaches at this point...

[Pape]

January 17 RKK announced Jerod Mayo as the 15th head coach in the history of the New England Patriots... And since then, we have had two coaches leave, and the rest are kinda in limbo... staying, going? who knows

Not only do we not know who is going to coach, but we don't know who will be running the ship on the personnel side of the ball... Matt Groh? Eliot Wolf? Someone new? We've heard nothing about this vital role yet... not even a peep on the rumor mill... Maybe this starts to shake itself out now that we know BB is not going to Atlanta, or, really, anywhere else... Groh committed to the Patriots? or has he been working with one foot out the door, waiting on the BB decsion? Is Wolf in the same boat? Its getting late in the hiring cycle... Its time we get some clarity on the direction this football team is going to take...

As for the coaches, over the past few days, I have posted that the Patriots OC position was a desirable job... The number 3 overall pick, the statements of Coach Mayo about "burning some cash" combined with the limited number of openings in the NFL for the OC position... Based on reports over the last few days, it appears that my assessment of the situation at hand is wr-wr-... hmm.. is incorrect. It appears that The lack of weapons on the roster & the promise of the a future QB at #3 is hampering the effort to replace BoB as the OC... It is unknown if Mayo has offered the job to any of the candidates he has interviewed, but so far, there has been zero movement on replacing the OC... This has got to change... as more and more head coaches are hired, many of the guys we think we should hire are getting snapped up by other franchises... Time for Mayo to make a decision.

As for the DC role, I think most of us know it looks like DeMarcus Covington will get the job... I'm fine with the move because i think consistency on the defensive side of the ball is important... the defense has been the mainstay of the team over the past few seasons... no reason why that shouldn't continue with Covington in place... I would like to hear that the position coaches on defense are returning, but i think its more inportant to solidify DC role first with an official hire... Why wait? That way the rest of the staff of the defensive side of the ball can be solidified...

The one coach i would like to keep here, tied to the defensive side of the ball, is Steve Belichick... He gets ragdolled a bunch because technically hes a first generation nepo coach... think its a bit unfair because at this point he has a dozen years in the NFL and has turned out to be a good coach... Promote him, give him the Assistant Head Coach title, then make him your senior defensive assistant to work with Covington... As Mayo pointed out in his presser, titles are important... Doing this really re-enforces the continuity on defense...

Lastly, the Pats need to be aggressive in Free Agency... they need to fill the holes in the roster, especially at the skill positions... The earlier the role of OC is filled, the sooner the work can begin in free agent player evals... The top two free agents out there by all accounts are Tee HIggins in Cincy & Michael Pittman in Indy... Either of these two would go a long way to help bring the quality of the offensive weapon skill set back up to par... I don't think either are enough to put them over the top but either will really help... We need to optimize the player selection process by actually hiring some coaches so we can being tampering early, and hopefully often...

②¢

 

[archstanton543]

tl;dr

 

[Pape]

me, at this point...

 

[Sicilian]

I understand the frustration, but this is often how these cycles go. There are still HC jobs open, which means there are still OC's for other teams that could be moving up (Ben Johnson, Bobby Slovik, etc), which means THOSE teams might soon have OC openings as well. So for someone like Robinson as an example, he doesn't have to rush to pick a job because he's got a stable gig in LA and doesn't know all of his options yet.

It'll be coming soon, just gotta be patient. There's plenty of time to get guys on board before player decisions need to be made.

 

[Pape]

I understand the frustration, but this is often how these cycles go. There are still HC jobs open, which means there are still OC's for other teams that could be moving up (Ben Johnson, Bobby Slovik, etc), which means THOSE teams might soon have OC openings as well. So for someone like Robinson as an example, he doesn't have to rush to pick a job because he's got a stable gig in LA and doesn't know all of his options yet.

It'll be coming soon, just gotta be patient. There's plenty of time to get guys on board before player decisions need to be made.

Sure, be reasonable why don'tcha...

 

[Sicilian]

Sure, be reasonable why don'tcha...

It's all an act. Inside I'm itching to know what's coming next too!

 

[mgteich]

It is 5 weeks until free agency. Groh and Wolf are hard at work doing their job evaluating each of the free agents including our own.

When there was all the fuss about immediately hiring a GM, it was leaked that Wolfe will likely fill this role, if anyone does.
=========
The reason that this seems so late is because we aren't playing this weekend.

I do expect some announcements next week
======
I agree with your comments about the Defense. Let's lock down Steve and Covington and have some consistency. I would expect us to add some coaches, especially assistants. I expect that we will need a couple of linebacker coaches and a DL coach. I would add another assistant for the secondary.

I expect us to re-sign Jennings, Bryant, Wilson and Mills, and to sign a free safety replacement for Dugger. Waiving Jackson will pay for those signings. [Jackson may or may not be signed later].
===========================================================

 

[Steve102]

I'd rather they were diligent and found the right guy(s) than hurried up and hired the first guys who can fog a mirror.

 

[Ross12]

This year is the first year of this cycle being lengthened due to the new rules where you can’t interview certain people for a much longer period of time… plus the Rooney Rule complications… It just makes everything take longer.

Look around the league, how many teams with openings have actually filled their OC jobs? Chicago and Cincinnati? Those were spots where they didn’t have a new HC, only an OC opening.

 

[Sicilian]

This year is the first year of this cycle being lengthened due to the new rules where you can’t interview certain people for a much longer period of time… plus the Rooney Rule complications… It just makes everything take longer.

Look around the league, how many teams with openings have actually filled their OC jobs? Chicago and Cincinnati? Those were spots where they didn’t have a new HC, only an OC opening.

And in Cincinnati's case, they promoted from within, which streamlined things quite a bit.

 

[Thunderhead]

They needed to hire a GM first and foremost, but are choosing not to. The Krafts are running the show and Mayo is their puppet.

 

[Pape]

I'd rather they were diligent and found the right guy(s) than hurried up and hired the first guys who can fog a mirror.

this is of course, the correct answer

 

[Scotty]

Would there be interest in a coach from 49'rs / Detroit / Chiefs / Ravens...I cant remember the exact rule where you cant approach coaches whilst they are still in the play offs (I probably have got that wrong !)

 

[Scotty]

I guess there is an order about which coaches you target first and then there is a trickle down effect eg : what about the OLine and WR coaching positions which maybe open or under question.

 

[mister clyde]

I'd rather they were diligent and found the right guy(s) than hurried up and hired the first guys who can fog a mirror.

There is something to be said for diligence. No denying that. But what good is all that diligence when the top candidates that you diligence has identified have already accepted other jobs because we were busy delving into how many detentions they got in high school?

 

[upstater1]

tl;dr

Wasn't long at all. I suggest adderall.

 

[upstater1]

I don't know the Chiefs assistant coach situation but I'd look there first for an OC who has somehow adapted Reid's thinking to his own. Reid still designs the most impressive plays in football. He doesn't have any scheme and he never has. Maybe early West Coast Bill Walsh defines him, given his background? But he plays it differently. I call it a heterodox offense that just takes advantage of space and levels. It's the way offense should be played. I'm basing this idea on the simple fact of football: there isn't much new under the sun, so we're going to throw it to where you ain't.

 

[Steve102]

There is something to be said for diligence. No denying that. But what good is all that diligence when the top candidates that you diligence has identified have already accepted other jobs because we were busy delving into how many detentions they got in high school?

You don't know that. All the constraints that were on this team walked out the door with Bill. Every football decision was made by Bill. I would 100% expect Mayo to interview everyone and anyone in order to gain knowledge. All that institutional knowledge walked out the door with Bill as well. It must be replaced. Every time they can get in the head of another coach, something can be learned that may help them down the road.

 

[Clonamery]

You don't know that. All the constraints that were on this team walked out the door with Bill. Every football decision was made by Bill. I would 100% expect Mayo to interview everyone and anyone in order to gain knowledge. All that institutional knowledge walked out the door with Bill as well. It must be replaced. Every time they can get in the head of another coach, something can be learned that may help them down the road.

The constraints are with the owner. He delegates what he delegates. Otherwise, I agree with everything else you state.

 

[Steve102]

The constraints are with the owner. He delegates what he delegates. Otherwise, I agree with everything else you state.

Not according to what he said at the introductory press conference. All football decisions were made by Bill.