Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Confirm 2022 Coaching Staff: Matt Patricia, Joe Judge, Steve Belichick and More

Starting point is 00:00:00 The coaching titles are set for your New England Patriots. But who is the play caller? And who's calling the shots on defense? We're talking this and more on this special weekend edition. Stay put, folks. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and welcome to this special weekend episode

Starting point is 00:00:54 of Locked on Patriots, your daily podcast covering your six-time Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. Of course, Locked on Patriots, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you as always for making Locked On Patriots your first listen of the day every day. Don't forget, we are free and available on all podcast

Starting point is 00:01:15 apps, including YouTube. So smash that subscribe button so you do not miss a single second of the action. Thank you folks this weekend for bearing with us while Locked On Patriots has had some technical snafus. We have worked through them. The good thing about it is each and every day this coming week

Starting point is 00:01:32 to bring you all of the training camp action you can handle. We will be live on camera in living color, boots on the ground in Foxborough. We cannot wait for the beginning of training camp starting this Wednesday, the first training camp practice on Wednesday morning. Of course, players report. They're required to report by Tuesday, July 26th. But definitely keep it here to Lockdown Patriots for all the latest. We will bring you the very latest from Foxborough and the practice fields adjacent to Gillette Stadium.

Starting point is 00:02:01 It's going to be fun, folks. It is that time of year. Football is back, and we could not be happier. I am your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Feel free to reach out to me and follow me on Twitter at MDABATENFL, and while you're out there showing some love to that Twitterverse, please follow the Locked On Patriots account as well at LO underscore Patriots. Pats fans, just in case you were wondering, the New England Patriots have set their 2022 coaching staff. They are set. The titles are set. And we are ready now to start training camp. And the Patriots know the men who will be in charge

Starting point is 00:02:46 and they've announced that and since the departure of former offensive coordinator josh mcdaniels who's taken his talents to las vegas the identity of the patriots offensive play caller for 2022 has been the subject of much speculation but there are deeper questions than that on this coaching staff who's going to have the lion's share of the say when it comes to the defense i think you a lot of you may think you know the answer to that question but i'm here to tell you that might not be the case and we're going to discuss that in just a little bit but when the patriots announced earlier this week that the coaching staff titles were indeed set the two names everybody wanted to see right off the bat Matt Patricia Joe Judge everybody wanted to see

Starting point is 00:03:30 who those guys were going to align as within the coaching staff kind of a fancy way of saying what are their titles what's their job responsibilities well Patricia officially listed as the team's offensive line coach. Judge is going to coach the quarterbacks. Patricia also retains his 2021 title of senior football advisor. So it doesn't look like those duties have been taken away from him. Just add it on. He'll get the offensive line duty. Joe Judge working with the quarterbacks, nothing in terms of who will be the official play caller. We may or may not get that information until the Patriots take their first snap in game one of the 2022 regular season.

Starting point is 00:04:10 But in any case, the Patriots coaching staff, folks, is set for better or for worse. Cam Ackerd definitely back as a special teams coordinator. Brian Belichick coaching safeties. Steve Belichick coaching the linebackers. A lot of people say he's going to be the defective offense oh defensive coordinator uh we'll discuss steve belichick in just a moment some of the more notables troy brown coaching the wide receivers once again he'll get also the duties of coaching the kickoff returners nick cayley a name we've heard a lot

Starting point is 00:04:40 over the course of the last couple of weeks and months here. Hi, Claire. Nick is a big, big favorite of Claire. But Nick Caley will coach the tight ends. And word has it, he'll have his hand in a little bit more when it comes to the offensive game planning. Demarcus Covington once again getting the job for the defensive line. Ross Douglas coaching the wide receivers and also under the NFL Coaching Fellowship. Ross is recently a married man. Congratulations, Ross, from all of us here at Locked On Patriots. We definitely wish you and your newbie trove the very, very best. As we've said before,

Starting point is 00:05:15 Matt Patricia, Joe Judge, we know what they're going to be doing. Gerard Mayo, once again, coaching the linebackers. Look for him to take a little bit more of an active role in the defense. Again, folks, I'm getting to it. And of course, Mike Pellegrino coaching the cornerbackers look for him to take a little bit more of an active role in the defense again folks i'm getting to it and of course mike pellegrino coaching the cornerbacks vinnie sinceri coaching the running backs billy yates assisting matt patricia on the offensive line so those are the big notables on the patriots coaching staff but what does this mean for the patriots offensive play calling and who gets the lion's share of the responsibility with the defense? These are two questions we are going to answer here in just a moment when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, sports is winding up. We are right about to enter that meaty part of the NFL offseason training camp. No matter

Starting point is 00:06:03 how you want to slice it, football is back in your life, and I know you'll love it, but there's still an awful lot of sports out there that can help you enrich your summer a little bit, and if you'd like to do that, don't do it with anyone else, but our good friends at BetOnline.net, your number one source for all of your betting needs and sports information. Find all of the latest sports developments, league reviews, and news at BetOnline because they are your continued source for all of your sports wagering information, including live betting, esports, and scores.

Starting point is 00:06:35 BetOnline remains the best spot for all of your sports podcast news this season as well. They are the fastest and easiest way to check in on all of your favorite sports and events, including MMA, boxing, and golf. Head to the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and the action. Bet online where the game starts. Patriots fans, we are talking pets, coaching staff, and the official titles for your coaching staff for your New England Patriots have indeed been set. But one thing that's still on everyone's mind is who is going to be calling offensive plays this year. Well, earlier in the offseason, we got some reports that seemed to indicate that Matt Patricia was starting to get a lion's share of the responsibility.

Starting point is 00:07:22 And even though Joe Judge worked very closely with the quarterbacks and there's been a lot of pleasantries exchanged between he and Matt Jones Patricia has reportedly taken a little bit more of a comprehensive role over the team's offense throughout the offseason we saw it in OTA saw it a little bit in minicamp and essentially my understanding from being around the team, and again, this is not coming from anyone directly within the team. This is my observation. He looks to be the frontrunner for the job. No official announcement on the play calling duties has been made by the Patriots.

Starting point is 00:07:56 I want to make that very clear, but it's looking like Patricia is going to get that responsibility, and I know that's listening a groan from a lot of you listening out there right now. I get it. Not a lot of experience. Some people think it's going to stunt Max growth a little bit and maybe not give him the protection he needs. But look, we've talked about this on Locked On Patriots before. There is a pedigree with Matt Patricia. There is a history of him being able to coach on the offensive side of the ball, especially on the offensive line. He began his career with the Patriots as an offensive coaching assistant

Starting point is 00:08:29 under Bill Belichick in 2004, just coincidentally happened to be the same year the team won its third championship. And then in 2005, after Jeff Davidson, who was a longtime offensive line and tight ends coach, jettisoned from the team. Patricia was reassigned as the Patriots' assistant offensive line coach, and he worked very closely with Dante Skarnecchia. I've said it here before, folks. I'll say it again. If you need a consul, if you need help, who's a better consigliere than Dante Skarnecchia? I messed that up.

Starting point is 00:09:01 The Godfather Gods are not happy with me on that, but you got the gist. You got the information that you needed, and that's the godfather gods are not happy with me on that but you got the gist you got the information that you needed and that's the most important thing but seriously the sentiment definitely applies here Patricia also spent three years as the Lions head coach and I know a lot of people are going to say oh what did he do he didn't do much in Detroit really wasn't a great tenure for him it with the Lions and I'm not going to argue with you on that. I mean I think questioning his job performance overall as a head coach fair game no question about it but when you're a head coach in this league whether you're a good head coach whether you're a so-so head coach or whether

Starting point is 00:09:34 you're a poor head coach you need familiarity with every aspect of the offense as well as the defense and ultimately the head coach has the final say in Detroit's on-field operations whether it's on the offensive side of the ball or the defensive side of the ball and even though Matt's not an offensive specialist he's not really the novice that everybody is portraying him to be in the local and mostly in the national media his previous experience as a head coach, his ability as a defensive coordinator, in my opinion, gives him the unique insight to teach the fundamentals that he's going to need all throughout this whole situation. So in my opinion, I think that speaks well for Matt Patricia. I think he'll be all right in this role. And if indeed the patriots are going to utilize him as the play

Starting point is 00:10:25 caller then it makes sense his previous experience as a head coach his experience as a defensive coordinator may be most important in this and also what he's able to bring to the team and what he's brought to the team in years past as an offensive line coach and an offensive minded coach as well so look i know it's not ideal folks, but take a look at it on the field and let's see what he can do and how he'll be able to do it. As for Joe Judge, he's not going away. It's not a situation where he's just going to fade off into the sunset. He still has a great deal of experience as well. He's coached special teams before. And one thing I can tell you about special teams coaches is they have to have an intricate

Starting point is 00:11:05 knowledge of everything that happens on the field. He also spent a couple of years as the Giants head coach. That's going to help him. He'll continue to have a prominent offensive coaching staff position. And he's got the qualifications to bring the insight that Mac Jones is going to need. So while it's not an ideal situation, and i've said this just a couple of moments ago it isn't quite the nightmare that a lot of people are making it out to be folks i know i sound like a broken record i've said this several times here on the pod but continue to keep the faith and

Starting point is 00:11:36 let's take a look at what this team starts to look like as training camp practices begin that's what this week's for that's what we're really looking forward to. So I'm looking for a productive year out of Mac Jones. I think Mac's made the jump, but I also think the coaches around him can offer him the ability to really do something special this year. So hopefully that means good things on the field for Mac Jones, but we're not quite ready to take our leave from the Patriots offensive coaching staff just yet because there's another name that's conspicuously absent from this list no I'm not talking about Josh McDaniels I'm not even talking about Carmen Brasillo or Mick Lombardi or bohart agree they're all off what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas and then they're staying in Vegas right now I'm talking about Ivan

Starting point is 00:12:21 fears folks we came into this season pretty much knowing that the longtime running backs coach, legendary running backs coach for the Patriots, was most likely going to retire. They haven't issued any official statement yet. I'm not sure if something might be coming this week prior to the start of training camp. That's definitely a possibility, or if they're going to wait until later in training camp to officially announce it but ivan was not on the list he has essentially been supplanted now by vinnie sinceri who's going to take over and ivan at this point i mean what can you say about him 31 seasons as an nfl assistant just an amazing career and you can't ask for more than what he's given to

Starting point is 00:13:04 the new england patriots organization sorely going to miss him the players love playing for him he an amazing career and you can't ask for more than what he's given to the New England Patriots organization sorely going to miss him the players love playing for him he was as candid and as honest as a coach that I've ever covered so selfishly I'm gonna miss his press conferences I just love Ivan and I really do wish him the very best but the running backs are in good hands because Vinny Sinceri is very much cut from the same cloth as Ivan Fears in terms of their preparation, in terms of their attitude toward the game, and in terms of their desire. And they're really, they're just, they're, they're inner penchant to win. And that's exactly what Vinny is going to continue to bring. Started out as a graduate assistant at the University of Alabama,

Starting point is 00:13:45 working for Belichick Associate. Yeah, I guess we'll leave it at that. Nick Saban. No, all kidding aside, anytime you work for Nick Saban, you're getting a crash course in Belichickian politics when it comes to the NFL. How you do business, how he does business, it's similar. So that's a great place for Sincerely to make his bones, so to speak. I'm going to let that cancel out the problem that I had for my godfather quote earlier on, but Sincerely has, it's a family thing with him. You know, he's coached alongside his brother, Tino. He was also a graduate assistant and his father, Sal, was the Crimson Tides linebackers coach. So a lot of sensory flavor down in Alabama working for Nick Saban. Vinny came in with the Patriots in 2020, had a support staff role,

Starting point is 00:14:34 and then he was named an assistant running backs coach and really shadowed Ivan, developed solid relationships with not only Ivan Fiers, but also all of the running backs on this roster, including Damian Harris from Andre Stevenson, even J.J. Taylor. So if any of you are looking for maybe J.J. to get a little extra look this year, I think there's a possibility that Vinny could give it to him. There's a good, strong relationship with all of these guys. If you remember Vinny from his playing days, he played here up in New England,

Starting point is 00:15:01 didn't really have a whole lot of on-field time, but he did spend a training camp with the Patriots in 2016, was a member of their practice squad, was released in October of that season, though, then went over and played for the 49ers for a little while with their practice squad in November, and then he was promoted to San Francisco's active roster. He played in six games, registered for defensive tackle, so there's a situation where you know Vinny knows a lot about both sides of the ball and in that regard that could give him a leg up on the competition and knowing not just how to coach running backs but also how to defend them what knowing what players do to stop you sometimes is just as important as knowing what to do to be prolific

Starting point is 00:15:41 on the field so I'm looking forward to seeing him hit the field. Vinny is eager to get to hit the field. We spoke to him just prior to the start of minicamp, and he sounded fired up and ready to go. And I look for that to really help the Patriots offense this year as well. So for anyone prognosticating doom or continuing to prognosticate doom for the Patriots offensive coaching staff, again, take a step back, enjoy, and take a look and see what this team can do.

Starting point is 00:16:14 I'm not saying it's going to be a blockbuster year for the Patriots offensively, but I think they might surprise a few people. And I think this coaching staff is one of the reasons why. Talking a lot of offense so far here in the Locked On Patriots podcast over the weekend, but it's not all offense. There's also some defensive questions for the Patriots, including who's going to take the lion's share of the responsibility in calling the game on the preventive side of the ball. Is it going to be Steve Belichick, or is he going to have some help from one Gerard Mayo?

Starting point is 00:16:39 Maybe a little more help than he's had in years past. I'll give my intake on that in just a moment. But first, folks, summer is here. Training camp begins this week, and you're going to want to get up to Gillette as much as possible to check out your favorite players like Mac Jones, Damian Harris, Ramondre Stevenson, Malcolm Butler, and more. And I'm forgetting so many of your favorites. I apologize, but there's just too many to list right now. Well, in order to do that, you need to make sure that you have transportation to get up there. And to do that, you have to make sure that your ride is in tip-top shape.

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Starting point is 00:18:11 All the parts your car will ever need. RockAuto.com Patriots fans, we're about to wrap things up here on this weekend episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast. The coaching staff titles have been set. Talked a lot about the offensive side of the ball, but there are still some questions on the defensive side of the ball because for all intents and purposes, and a lot of people love to hop on the Patriots offense, not doing a phenomenal job in the later stretch of the 2021 season.

Starting point is 00:18:41 Patriots also experienced some difficulty on the defensive side of the ball as well, had difficulty stopping the run, and they had difficulty defending the pass at times as well, and a lot of that blame has been placed on the shoulders of Bill Belichick as the head coach, naturally, but there's also been, I think, maybe a little extra vitriol thrown at the younger Belichick on the roster right now, or the coaching roster, I should say maybe a little extra vitriol thrown at the younger Belichick on the roster right now, or the coaching roster, I should say. Steve Belichick coaching the linebackers and also taking maybe a little bit more responsibility as the defensive play caller for the Patriots. In this regard, I understand where some of the difficulties are coming from. You see some of

Starting point is 00:19:23 the lack of aggression. You see guys playing out of position at times, maybe not being as well conditioned as they need to be. And naturally, you're going to go with the guy that they keep focusing on on television. And the fact that Steve kept making all those faces and the camera during the Tampa Bay game did not help his case because everybody is going to keep going to that and they're going to keep blaming him for what happened with the defense. I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Steve Belichick is without blame for that. He certainly is. Bill Belichick has to share some blame for that. Gerard Mayo has to share some blame for that. Pellegrino, all of these guys that had their hand in the defense last year need to share some of the blame for that because ultimately it's a

Starting point is 00:20:04 team effort. And if you're going to blame the team and the players on the field who, let's not forget, they deserve some blame for this as well, then the coaching staff is going to have to take that. The Patriots understand that and they know that going into this season, they're going to have to be better because let's face it, when you look at what the Patriots have done defensively nine and four start last year but then their defensive performance sharply declined and it culminated in a disastrous performance 47 to 17 playoff road loss against the Buffalo Bills I'm not going to go down what happened there we all know we all saw the game I don't want to relive it. I don't think you did either.

Starting point is 00:20:45 But since the conclusion of the 2021 season, a lot of speculation has arisen that maybe it wasn't completely fair to the players on the field, that they didn't really have an official defensive coordinator. And that caused a lot of confusion for a lot of the players on the preventive side of the ball. As a result, whoever was calling the plays, and for the most part, it was Steve Belichick, was not able to get across to his team. That lost some effectiveness. And it really was during a very tough stretch to close the season for the Patriots as well, which is only going to make

Starting point is 00:21:19 things worse. So when you look at what the Patriots might do to correct that moving into the season, I will say that my understanding, and again, this is not officially from the team, but the way I watch this team during minicamp and OTA, things that I've heard indicate that Steve Dowacek is likely going to retain his duties of being the defensive play caller. He's probably going to split those duties, maybe not split it 50-50, but he's going to have a little bit more input coming in from guys like his brother Brian with the safeties, Pellegrino with the quarterbacks, Demarcus Covington with the defensive line, but mostly from Gerard Mayo, who's really looking to make that jump

Starting point is 00:21:59 to head coaching type status. And this year could end up being Gerrard's last year in New England, especially if the Patriots are serious about maintaining Bill Belichick on staff for a good long time. There's no indication. Bill's ready to hang it up. So I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon. And I think Gerrard realizes that the timing might be right for him to try to make that move to a head coaching position. It was very heavily coveted by the Houston Texans this year, ultimately just didn't end up working out. But if Gerrard wants to be a head coach in this league, I look for him to take a more active role in calling plays.

Starting point is 00:22:34 And say what you will about Bill Belichick, he's a very giving coach. He's going to give his coaches and his guys the opportunity to shine and do what they do best. And I think that's going to really buoy this team when it comes to what they can do defensively. So while Steve Belichick might maintain the play-calling duties, don't be a bit surprised to see Gerard Mayo take a much more active role on the team this year,

Starting point is 00:22:57 and I think he's going to have a little bit more input. I think the Patriots will have a clearer picture as to how that will work, and they're going to communicate that to their players very early. Some of the rumblings that we heard last year, and again, these are through back channels, not necessarily through any direct player themselves, but that wasn't really clearly defined right off the bat last year, and I think that did work to the Patriots' disadvantage as the season went on. I think they're going to increase their communication, and I think they're going to help the players, especially on the field, see that right off the bat. And if that's indeed

Starting point is 00:23:29 the case, you also have guys like Matt Patricia, who was a former defensive coordinator for this team for a number of years. Not forget about Joe Judge. He knows a thing or two about coaching defense. And I hate to use the consigliere analogy again, folks, but Steve Belichick can really say this. If I ever need help, who's a better consigliere than my father? Bill Belichick, the greatest defensive mind in the history of the NFL. If that's the case, then, you know, you definitely have the greatest to work off of. And Steve did say this as well. You know, he said, I don't have an answer to the question of whether or not I'm going to be the defensive play caller again this year. He said this shortly before minicamp. He says, if I am, that's great. If not,

Starting point is 00:24:10 that's great too, indicating that he knows that there are several guys on this defensive coaching staff that can take the job. But don't let that fool you into thinking that the Patriots don't have a plan. They absolutely do, and they're going to put it into effect. Whether or not it's going to be effective, well, that's something that the Patriots are going to have to decide, but we will find that out when the Patriots do report on July 26th and conduct their first training session on July 27th, and for better or for worse, it won't be with a named offensive coordinator and a named defensive coordinator therefore their fifth straight season without an official defensive coordinator since brian flores i will i should say really brian flores didn't even have the title um it's been

Starting point is 00:24:56 five seasons since the patriots have had an official uh defensive coordinator and they're going in without an offensive coordinator this year as well. Definitely risky and it has its drawbacks, but ultimately when you have Bill Belichick at the helm, you can get away with that a little bit more than a lot of other teams can. Folks, it's always an honor to come and be able to give you any type of insight that I can on the New England Patriots and I hope you've learned a little more about the coaching staff, maybe even a few things you didn't know about some of these guys, but we'll learn an awful lot about what this team's going to look like in the coming days and weeks so keep it right here subscribe to Locked On Patriots smash that subscribe button on YouTube download subscribe to and follow the Locked On Patriots podcast

Starting point is 00:25:39 on platforms such as Spotify the Odyssey app app, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Just make sure that you're staying locked in to Locked On Patriots. Now that you've made Locked On Patriots your first listen, go ahead and make your second listen. Our good friends at Locked On NFL, one of the great Locked On shows across this landscape here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Anything and everything headline related for the NFL, our guys got you covered.

Starting point is 00:26:09 So smash that subscribe button and download each and every day a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Until tomorrow, Foxborough faithful, when our good friend, that counter Murphy Fisto himself joins us here on this Monday episode of Locked On Patriots. I am your host, Mike DeBate. Please stay safe, stay well, be the change that you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots Confirm 2022 Coaching Staff: Matt Patricia, Joe Judge, Steve Belichick and More

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