The Patriots have undergone plenty of change on the sidelines and in the front office recently. In trying to reshape the coaching staff, in particular on the offensive side of the ball, there seems to be a growing chance of Matt Patricia becoming more involved.
As ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes, “the possibility of Patricia joining the offensive staff in some capacity has come up” within NFL circles. He served under the title of senior football advisor last year following his return to New England.
The 47-year-old only spent his first two seasons (2004 and 2005) with the Patriots as a member of the offensive staff, and in a minor capacity at that. He is, of course, best known for his six years as the team’s defensive coordinator, which ultimately landed him his first head-coaching job in Detroit. That certainly didn’t go according to plan, as the Lions finished last in the NFC North in his two full seasons, and he was fired in November 2020.
Still, Patricia is a trusted lieutenant of Bill Belichick, just like Joe Judge. It was announced last week that the latter is being brought back into the fold, also on the offensive staff. As Reiss notes, however, Judge’s only experience on that side of the ball came during one year as the Patriots’ wide receivers coach in 2019 before his similarly ill-fated stint as head coach of the Giants. Not surprisingly, given their inexperience, neither he nor Patricia have called plays on offense at the NFL level.
After losing not only longtime OC Josh McDaniels to the Raiders, but also a host of valued assistants on the offensive staff, many feel Patricia and Judge could help ease the transition to a new power structure on the sidelines. While Reiss stresses it surely isn’t the primary motivation, he also notes how both of them are still being paid by their former teams after initially signing five-year deals, which reduces the cost of their services for the Patriots.
Whatever changes New England makes, it could of course have a domino effect throughout the staff. As PFF’s Doug Kyed tweets, either Patricia or Belichick himself taking on a workload on offense would likely shift more defensive responsibility to position coaches Steve Belichick or Jerod Mayo. In any event, Reiss writes, Patricia shifting from a quasi-front office role back to purely coaching is a “scenario that bears watching.”
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