Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots ‘Top Bill-ing’: Bill O’Brien, Bill Belichick and Offensive Coordinator Pros and Cons

Episode Date: January 20, 2023

By most accounts, Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien remains a ‘top candidate’ for the open OC job with the New England Patriots. However, his potential hiring would not come without its share of questions. Joining host Mike D’Abate is Tanya Ray Fox of FS1, as the duo discuss the pros and cons of hiring O’Brien, while Tanya makes her bold prediction for the 2023 offseason.Find and follow Locked On Patriots on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-patriots-daily-podcast-on-the-new-england/id1140512627 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1c5ZxFmwg3WbfxAU3tR5Ve?si=k196wH-yRqifUcQQz8SjIQStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-patriots And follow host Mike D’Abate on Twitter, where he’ll be sharing the latest news about the New England Patriots and talking with fans.On Twitter: @mdabateNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!PrizePicksFirst time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONUltimate Football GMTo download the game just visit Ultimate-GM.com or look it up on the app stores. Our listeners get a 100% free boost to their franchise when using the promo LOCKEDON (ALL CAPS) in the game store.BetterHelpThis episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at Betterhelp.com/LockedOn and get on your way to being your best self.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bill O'Brien is the right fit for the New England Patriots at offensive coordinator or is he? Stick around. 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. Thank you once again for making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage and your first listen every day. Remember, Locked On Patriots is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube.

So smash that subscribe button, download, subscribe to follow Locked On Patriots wherever you get your podcasts. And today, Locked On Patriots is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, and they help you do it faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash lockedonfl. Pats fans, it is Friday. It is time to close the week in style here on Locked On Patriots, and what better way to do so than with the only guest here

that knows how to style and profile with the best of them. She is truly one of our favorites at Locked On Patriots. Columnist, journalist extraordinaire for platforms such as NBC Sports, Boston, The Boston Herald, you name it. She's been all over. She is currently doing amazing work for FS1 and her podcast, an almost shameless podcast, folks. One of the best in the business.

Truly the only podcast that not only tells it like it is, but like it ought to be. My good friend, Tanya Ray Fox, joins me here today. Tanya, thank you so much for joining me. Welcome back to Lockdown Patriots. Thank you, Mike. It's good to be back. I am praying that we don't have any audio issues as we have in the past because we are too good together for it to be interrupted by bad audio.

Well, definitely a tip of the cap on that one. Thank you. Trust me, folks. The talent is all on that side of the screen. I just kind of run the program back here. But all kidding aside, I do appreciate that. And yes, the last time that we shared the microphone together, a little bit of an audio choppy situation. I think we got that worked out.

We're dealing with some new studios, new technology, locked on Patriots, locked on podcast network, taking really good care of us here. And we hope you enjoy the show today. And Tanya, what better way to kick off this show than just to say that a search for a new offensive coordinator is underway. The Help Wanted sign up in one Patriots place in Foxborough for the first time in a long while when it comes to an offensive coordinator position or really any coordinator position.

If you think about it, five interviews taking place already. More are expected this week, maybe into this weekend even. Those that have interviewed current tight ends coach Nick Cayley, Minnesota Vikings wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell. A lot of buzz around Keenan right now. A hot name out there. He's one to watch, folks. Keep an eye on Keenan McCardell. From what I hear from the New England Patriots and what I hear from sources close to the team, not anyone directly, I do want to be very careful on that um they were pretty taken with this guy so that's one to watch as well former patriot oregon assistant adrian clem coming in arizona cardinals associate head coach wide receivers coach and former patriot a favorite target of one drew bledsoe back in the day sean jefferson and the name that everybody's been talking about tanya

bill orion al, Alabama offensive coordinator, former Houston Texans coach, former coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions, and former offensive coordinator for the New England Patriots back in the latter part of the Tom Brady days. So, Tanya, let's start there. The fan base wants to see a Bill and Bill combination on the sidelines this season. And if we're talking logistical fit, O'Brien is probably the best logistical fit out of anybody. He essentially checks all of the boxes. You see things us mere mortals don't see.

You have a way of extracting the truth, telling it like it is. Sometimes people want to hear it. Sometimes people don't. But for the sake of argument, to play devil's advocate, let's say you're arguing on the side of Bill O'Brien being the right fit here in New England why do you believe that Bill O'Brien is the proper choice for the

New England Patriots this season to be their offensive coordinator yeah well I think the I think the number one thing and this is for better or for worse is is that Bill Belichick trusts his guys, guys and girls. He is a promote from inside the team kind of guy. He does not like to bring in outsiders. He's been doing this for a long time. And I think the longer you do this and the more that you work with specific coaches and you have a very specific specific system in place the more likely it is that you're going to turn into that kind of coach where the people that know you and that

know how you work and that know how your organization functions and how your team building goes those are the people you're going to trust I don't you know for all of the criticism that we've given him for the Matt Patricia Joe judge hires and how poorly that went this season. There is something to be said for the fact that there is no team in the NFL with a structure as fully cemented as the new England Patriots without Tom Brady, with Tom Brady, it doesn't matter. That's, that is the, that is the organization and the culture that Bill Belichick built and has been building for over two decades. That's something very, very rare in the NFL. And Bill O'Brien knows how Bill Belichick functions.

He's also worked with Nick Saban. He is very much in his inner circle. Now, that is obviously scary for people who watched how badly the Matt Patricia thing went. But Bill O'Brien is a real offensive mind. He is a real offensive coordinator. He has worked at every level of this game. And if their intention is to continue to develop Mac Jones in year three and really find out what he's capable of, this is a person who has seen a quarterback like Mac Jones in high school,

college, NFL. He knows exactly what he is capable of. And that is, he is like the ultimate safety blanket. The team was quite successful offensively in terms of output under Bill O'Brien the first time around. I think when you think about it and you realize that there were no rings involved, people get a little bit curmudgeonly about it, right? Because there was so much going on. You have the early dynasty and the late dynasty, and we as fans obviously focus on those coaches and those teams as the pinnacle of Patriots success.

But under Bill O'Brien, they were fairly successful, at least especially with the players that they were drafting and bringing onto the team. They ended up being really important players later on when they were continuing to go back to win Super Bowls. There was just something about his eye for the types of players that would work on the offense that Bill Belichick was building. Now, was that over a decade ago? Yes. But I do think that there is a need for an eye for talent and who's going to work

on the field for a Bill Belichick team. and Bill O'Brien knows how to do that. Without question, very, very good points. And you did mention the eye for talent that Bill O'Brien has. We've talked about it here on Locked On Patriots a couple of times. Claire Cooper and I talked about it earlier this week, about the Patriots incorporating two tight end sets into their offense. And Bill was a master at that when he had Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez here now I've again cautioned a lot of Patriots fans to know that this is not a like for like Hunter is not Rob and Jonu is not Aaron there is not and I'm talking purely on field here folks

you know that that's not the situation that Bill would come into he can't simply run that same system and expect these guys to thrive. If there's one thing Bill O'Brien knows how to do is maximize offensive talent, utilize game planning to his players' strengths, and maybe that may be the most prominent reason why he may be the best fit for Mac Jones. He and Mac Jones did not work together in tandem on the field in Alabama. I know a lot of people believe that he coached him there. Bill actually took the reins of this offense right after Mac left. But the issue is there, or I should say the good thing about it,

is that Bill O'Brien spent an awful lot of time in Alabama absorbing himself into the Alabama offense. And Mac Jones was instrumental in working with Bill side by side, incorporating him into that world. So these two do have a professional working relationship together. If the Patriots are serious about making that jump with Mac Jones, a quarterback this year, Bill O'Brien is definitely the right fit. Monday morning quarterbacks, Albert Breer wrote about this a little bit on Friday morning, basically saying that he believes that the Patriots are in a similar critical point at quarterback right now, where the Miami Dolphins

were with Tua Tagovailoa just a year ago, really trying to determine whether or not this is going to be their guy for the future and what's going to happen and what type of coach you want to surround him with. To me, that's a very vital point right now for the New England Patriots. So excellent analysis as always, my friend. You've given a convincing argument. The other thing I want to mention is that I can't remember if it was the exact time, but when Bill Belichick started to adopt, he went to Chip Kelly, I believe it must have been in like 2010, 2011, and started talking about the kind of offense that he had run in college that he was now trying to bring to the NFL.

And, you know, the really fast paced, no huddle, spreading things out. You know, people obviously always give Belichick credit for his defense. But offensively, Belichick was doing some really innovative things that actually changed the pace of the NFL game, I think right around 2011. And so incorporating college concepts is not something he is opposed to. And that is also something Bill O'Brien would bring to the table, especially after, you know, his in his post Patriots career, how much he's done on the high end college level. And that, that is, I mean, that is something that I think people forget. Bill Belichick is actually quite forward thinking when it comes to that. Yeah, without question. Very, very good point on that as well. Be able to bring in new concepts, fresh concepts, because let's face it, the NFL offense is evolving

as a whole. You see all of these successful teams that are still in it. What do they currently have? Schemes and systems that maximize their ability of their quarterback to the best of their ability. And that's something that I think the New England Patriots desperately need in this offseason. And the right offensive mind is going to be the one to come in and help Bill Belichick do just that. But folks, it is not a slam dunk with Bill O'Brien. There are a couple of roadblocks and Tanya is going to play the contrarian in just a moment, as will I, and we'll give you the reasons why Bill O'Brien may not be the ultimate fit for the New England Patriots and offensive coordinator

land when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues. But first, folks, I want to tell you a little bit about our friends, our sponsors today, LinkedIn Jobs. And as a small business owner or hiring manager, you know that your success in 2023 depends on the team members you surround yourself with. And that is why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. With LinkedIn Jobs, you can hire qualified candidates more efficiently by matching open roles with people who have the skills, the values, and the experience to help you achieve those goals. LinkedIn Jobs helps you quickly attract qualified candidates to your open jobs with targeting tools, which means they go

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Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Patriots fans, the incomparable Tanya Rae Fox of FS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast joins me here today. It's Fox on Friday, closing the Friday out in style. And we're already off to a great start here on Locked On Patriots, talking about the offensive coordinator position.

It's the hot topic in New England right now, Tanya. And we talked a little bit about in the previous segment why bill o'brien is the top candidate and by all accounts folks he did interview for the position on thursday we're hearing that he remains a top candidate but it's not a situation where this is a complete slam dunk first of all bill's going to have other suitors out there. If the Patriots do not act quickly, there are teams that have open coordinator positions right now. The Cardinals, the Los Angeles Chargers, the LA Rams, the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Commanders, the New York Jets,

the Indianapolis Colts are out there if there's a situation where they've all been rumored or actually have concrete openings right now. The Arizona Cardinals concern me a little bit. Monty Austin recently installed as their gem, very close to Bill O'Brien, folks. That's one to watch if the Patriots can't close this one quickly. But there are reasons why Bill may not be the ultimate fit in New England. And, Tanya, the last time we asked you to put on your pro hat to talk about why Bill was the right fit, and I ask you to do the same in converse in a minute,

why do you believe Bill O'Brien might not be the hand-in-glove fit that everyone's making him out to be in New England? So the thing about the offensive coordinator openings that you just listed, there are a lot. There's like nine or ten right now, I think, that you just listed where offensive coordinators are needed. And if you look around and you look at a team like the Dolphins or the Ravens, and these teams are, whether they have a good quarterback or a quarterback they're still figuring out, these are teams that start off the season hot and then things get in trouble. You get injured, you have everything else. And the thing that holds them together is system and scheme, right? Like that is what you see is

the foundation of an offense that starts out the season really well and continues to be able to hold themselves together throughout adversity. The other part of that is play calling. And a lot of teams in the NFL are finding it very difficult to find the happy medium between the scheme and the concept and the system and the actual game day play calling. And we see it with someone like Greg Roman, who just left the Ravens, whose system and schemes have been hailed and for, and rightfully so, um, the stuff that he's done with multiple teams now speaks for itself, but the, but the game day play calling and when they don't actually have their exact quarterback, things go awry. So if you move over to somebody like Bill O'Brien, I actually think there's a, there's a potential for the same issue. And if Bill Belichick wants to get ahead of the curve, he needs to find somebody who is a elite game day play caller.

And I know that one of Brady's biggest issues with Bill O'Brien was the play calling. That was one of the things that made him up a wall. We know he was a pretty good schemer. Like we've already talked about all the things he did well, and they were really good. And I'm not saying that they are not worthwhile, but there's not a lot of time to waste here. Bill Belichick is 70 years old. He's trying to make the playoffs and make a real run as soon as humanly possible. We're not in rebuild mode, whatever. He has a green light to go ahead and do whatever he needs to do to get ahead of the curve. This is a

conference with Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, and we're potentially still Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow. And they are just not on the level of talent at quarterback right now to compete with just your average everyday, you know, just getting by. There's like mistake-free football is not a thing in New England anymore. And I genuinely believe that over everything, Mike, over creative concepts and innovative schemes and over the Mike McDaniel stuff that they've been doing in Miami and over all of it, if you cannot get the play calling right on Sunday or Monday night or Thursday night

or whenever it is you're playing, that is the most important thing that you can do against these elite quarterbacks of which we do not we do not possess one we just simply do not so you look if you look at a team like the Cincinnati Bengals I personally don't find their scheme anything special They've got Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. What the Patriots have is a team full of very good players. Underrated, if you ask me. I think that the weapons that they have in New England are underrated. I think someone like Bill O'Brien could absolutely find a way to scheme up

those players. I just worry that when it comes to game day with a quarterback like Mack, that we're going to fall into the same trap that a lot of these teams have fallen into, which is as soon as the concepts themselves are not enough to overcome a defense, the mistakes and the confusion begins to happen again. And Bill O'Brien is not a, uh, he's not a coach of, as far as I know, I don't know him personally, but this is what I've heard. He's not quite a coach of, um, adult men, the same way he is of college kids and college players. These are guys who absolutely know when they're being bullshitted by,

you know, a guy with a, with an attitude versus a guy with real ideas. And I do worry about the, the, the blend of personality and gameplay calling and kind of falling back into the same thing that happened with Mac Jones and Matt Patricia, there's just a lack of trust. And that is why there is a real tight rope walk happening here for whoever he hires, for whoever Belichick hires, for him to find the right balance. Because as the best to ever do it, Belichick needs to get that right on the other side of the ball. Yeah, it really does. That's a very, very good point. And look, I know you brought up the relationship between quarterback and wide receiver. You mentioned Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase. That's a great one-two combination to put at the top of your list in terms of elite quarterback, elite wide receiver,

and that connection really, I think, can fester and bring you a good opportunity to be able to showcase your talent. We see it in Buffalo with Josh Allen and Stephon Diggs. We started to see it a little bit this year with Miami, and Tua Tagovailoa will be able to utilize guys like Tyreek Hill. Obviously, bringing him in was a huge uh you know help for that team but also be able to increase the productivity of Jalen Waddell Tua had a lot of the same criticisms you're hearing with Mack now these two guys are different quarterbacks I'm

not comparing one of the two but again there were whispers about Tua last year talking about whether or not he was the right fit in Miami whether or not he could handle the load whether or not he was the right fit in Miami, whether or not he could handle the load, whether or not his arm strength was good. We heard all this about Tua last year. He came in and showed that if he's healthy, and that's the most important thing here, folks, when it comes to Tua Tagovailoa, but if he's healthy, he can be a very effective quarterback in that system. To do that, you need bodies to be able to absorb some of that pressure. And one name that the Patriots have been linked to in the off season is DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals. Miguel Benzon joined me here last week on the show, displayed that if the Patriots are serious about this, they can make the finances work.

So really what it comes down to is logistical. DeAndre has a no trade clause. He can invoke it whenever he wants to. If he's serious about playing here in New England, he wants to come here and play for Bill Belichick, which he said several times, Bill Belichick is probably the coach in the league that he has the most respect for, which I thought was an interesting comment. And so he was still playing for Cliff Kingsbury at the time, but you know, the reverence there has to go and it has to be deferred to Bill Belichick. If, in fact, he wants to come to New England and Bill O'Brien is the guy that is going to be coordinating the offense, there's a complicated past there.

We all know the story and we all know the history behind his being traded. Folks, for those of you who don't, there was some confusion as to whether Bill O'brien kind of maybe pushed deandre out the door in houston kind of shipped them off for uh what a lot of people say in arizona they got him for a king's ransom um these are all speculative uh both sides have tried to diffuse that a little bit but there was clearly a good amount of tension and probably not a whole lot of good blood or water still running under the bridge you have to wonder if that precludes the patriots from maybe taking a shot at deandre or maybe deandre wanting to come here so that could be something that might be lurking in the background not saying it's either a good reason or a bad reason to pursue him or not but something you have to consider if you're serious about wanting a bona fide number one receiver, and DeAndre Hopkins is the guy you want,

and we've heard Bill Belichick eat abusive praise on DeAndre, that's something I think to watch as well. Yeah, that's a really good point. I do think that it sort of goes back to my fear that there is maybe sometimes a breakdown with Bill O'Brien and the players themselves and how they communicate. This is not a character assassination by any means. I just think there are certain coaches who handle that better than others.

And Bill Belichick is known as a hard ass and everybody's afraid of Bill, but he gets along with star players. He gets along with difficult personalities. I mean, he's brought in all kinds of guys, especially at wide receiver, Ocho Cinco and Randy Moss, and they all absolutely love Bill Belichick. That's a massive misunderstanding. His ability to create a dynasty as long as he did

is because he's actually a master of handling those relationships. So you do want someone to compliment that. And to go from Matt Patricia to Bill O'Brien in that spot to people who are a little bit more prickly and especially at a, at a, a, a position where you're handling offensive players. There are egos. There are people who want the ball. There's all of the stuff we know that the cliches, you know, it's not, it's not a deal breaker. It is not something you cannot overcome, but it is something to consider.

Yeah, absolutely. And to Bill's credit, I mean, this was years ago, not extremely long time ago. We're talking, you know, just a couple of years removed. But people do change. People do evolve and they do mature. And even, you know, regardless of what age you are or what situation that you're in, you always learn from mistakes. You always learn from previous situations. So maybe there hasn't been enough time for water to start flowing under that bridge again.

Maybe these two guys can reconnect here in New England, or maybe it's one or the other, or maybe neither for the New England Patriots. But interesting arguments to be made on both sides. And that kind of leads me into what we're going to conclude our show with here today on Locked On Patriots, but interesting arguments to be made on both sides. And that kind of leads me into what we're going to conclude our show with here today on Lockdown Patriots, because Tanya is not afraid to share bold information. She's not afraid to put herself out there. I'm going to put her on the hot seat in just a minute. And we're going to ask Tanya Ray Fox what her bold prediction for this upcoming off season will be for your New England Patriots when this episode

of the Lockdown Patriots podcast continues. But first, I want to talk to you a little bit about our sponsor today. This show is sponsored by our good friends at Built.com. Folks, if you are looking for a delicious treat but don't want all of the fat and calories, you gotta try a Built bar. We just got through the holidays. My goal is to eat a little healthier this year. Small steps, folks. I know you're probably looking at me going, it doesn't look like it yet. We're moving in the right direction. But I will say this. If you do not want to compromise taste, man, I have got the thing for you. You've got to try Bilt. With Bilt, healthy is actually tasty. These bars are so delicious, you won't think they're good for you.

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Go to Walmart. Pick up a 13-bar box, a 4-bar box. Regardless of what you want, they'll have it for you. You can thank me later. Built.com. Patriots fans, once again, the incomparable Tanya Ray Fox is closing the week in style here on Locked On Patriots the way only she can. My friend, it's always my honor, always my privilege to share the microphone with you. And we talked a lot of Bill O'Brien, but want to let you flex your prognostication muscle a little bit because you are among the best in the business of doing this.

And I, for one, can't wait, folks, to hear what Tanya has in store for all of us. We've known each other for quite a while. You're not afraid to put your opinions out there. You're not afraid to let everyone know what you're thinking. And maybe the predictions that you make are a little bit on the bold side. And here on Locked On Patriots, we can use a little bit of boldness to end the week in style. So my friend, have at it. When you look at the New England Patriots offseason, the needs, the moves that they made, things that might happen, things that may not, it's still way too early to determine

what the season is going to be like. This team's not even built yet. But when you look at the offseason, do you have a bold prediction in store for us as to what we can expect from the New England Patriots heading into the 2023 season? I do, Mike. I do have a bold prediction. Shocking. Like you said, it's early. I do think there's a lot to still be figured out. And the coaching decisions and all that stuff, potential, you know, trades and free signings, all of that is going to dictate things. But as it stands right now, I genuinely believe that Mac Jones is going to have to fight for

his job in the offseason. I do not think he is going to enter this regular season with that job locked up. I believe that Bill Belichick has every intention of either allowing Zappi or whoever to battle him for that job and push him or that he has his eye on free agents. And I'll, and I know that this is, I understand, I understand that this is I understand I understand that there is a lot of people who are listening to me like this is a reactive this is over I am NOT this is not a a opinion that comes from a place of criticism of Mac or a belief that he can't rebound what I'm telling you is

that over at Fox Sports 1 on the production meetings in the morning, Colin Coward says this a lot. And I think it's one of his better points, which is that teams very often wait one year too long to figure out that their quarterback is not what they need. And the signs are always there. They are always there. Now, there are so many examples of guys who've made a jump from year two to year three, like Josh Allen, who clearly had all of the pieces in place, all of the signs that they could be what they would become in years one and two, but they were just sloppy and unpolished. And then you see that come along. So it is not me disregarding the fact that that can happen.

But there is also a situation like what I personally saw in Miami, which is this buy-in on a player like Tua Tagloa, who to me was saved by a scheme for the first half of the season and slowly began to be exposed. Now, there are concussion issues. There are health issues there for sure. But it was remarkable to watch exactly what happened with the Dolphins happens all the time, which is this new scheme,

this sort of innovative look, and they've got the two amazing wide receivers, and all of a sudden, Tua's throwing downfield, everything's looking good. And then all of a sudden, people figure out how to defend it, just like they always do. And so I personally feel like it's if I were in Miami, I'd be ready to move on from to a regardless, regardless of the health issues. If he wants to come back or not, I don't think there is time to waste in the AFC figuring out whether your quarterback can hang with the the best quarterbacks in the NFL. This conference is stacked and Mac Jones showed some real issues with his patience and leadership abilities on the field this year. I am not in the business of attacking the character of players based on the way they react on the field to things. It is an emotional game. There is a lot going on. This is not anti-Mac, but there is major growth that needs to happen. There are huge steps that need to be taken. This

isn't, he needs to take some baby steps in the right direction in year three. He needs to make massive leaps. And the only way you can get a player like that to make massive leaps, to buy in, to find out whether they have the fortitude and the character to step up beyond what they thought they were capable of and begin to compete on the level of Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. But make no mistake, that is the level he has to compete on. The only way to do that is to make sure they understand that their job is not promised to them especially for a player like mac who came from alabama first round draft pick had a nice little opening season in his rookie season with josh mcdaniels getting into the playoffs

it is time for him to show up and show exactly what he's capable of before the season starts because someone who did show what they were capable of this season and did everything that was asked of them when it came to it was Bailey Zappi so you know fans aren't crazy when things were going bad with Mac because they were going badly and they remembered back to when things were going well with Zappi it's not because they're hateful or because they're spiteful and they want to see Mac lose out on everything and just promote this random rookie. It's because they saw the fight and the push from a young player who wanted to prove himself.

The only way you get that is by saying you're not promised year three in this league that you're not, I'm going to give you as much as I possibly can. I'm going to give you a better play con. I'm going to give you as much as I possibly can. I'm going to give you a better play con. I'm going to give you a better offensive coordinator. But there's also that extra piece. It wasn't all on Matt Patricia. There were major mistakes made by Mac himself. There was backsliding. There was issues with his form. He was not comfortable in the pocket. He was distracted. He was mistake prone. Those are things that fall on Mac. And I believe he is going to have to fight for his job in this off season. Yeah, I think you make some

very interesting points without any question. Mark Ophiel joined me here yesterday on Lock on Patriots. And we talked about a lot with regard to Mac, the good, the bad, and the long-term future of the way this team is set up. And I'm in agreement with Mark, and we both agree at this point that Mack will ultimately, and this is again, opinion folks, will ultimately be the starter on day one. I think that's where the Patriots are trending, but I agree with you that Bill Belichick is not going to make this easy on him. I'm not saying that the decision has already been made in Foxborough, and I'm not saying that Bill Belichick is not going to be serious about pushing Mac for competition. I actually do believe that you're 100% right when you say that he will not be guaranteed the spot when he next steps on a

field for the Patriots, whether that be an OTA, whether it be in offseason workouts, no matter what that happens to be, I don't think he's guaranteed that starting position walking through the door. There's way too much out there right now that the Patriots and Bill Belichick could possibly do. You might see another quarterback come in from the draft. There's definitely bodies that can come in and do the job. We saw Bailey Zappi come in and be effective last year in only a two to three game sample

that Bailey ran the offense, but the offense ran a little bit more efficiently. Now, was that due to some play calling, maybe to help facilitate a rookie quarterback kind of thrust into the spotlight before they really wanted to showcase him? Yeah, I think the argument can be made that it was a little bit, but you have to give the kid credit in being able to do what he did so many times young quarterbacks are spoon-fed a really flawless game plan and they simply can't execute it bailey's app executed it so he deserves all the credit for that uh you know regardless of what the play calling whether it helped him or whether it didn't mac 100 right also as well there were definite times where there were decision

making issues there were issues when you know with regard to his ability to pick up the blitz. This is something that continues to be a problem with him, and it was a problem in his rookie year as well. In his good rookie season as Mac had, that was the M.O. on him. If you blitz him strategically from the second and third level of the defense, he had difficulty picking it up, and he continued that this year. That growth needs to happen. The sideline stuff is stuff that I think will shake out. I think it was definitely met with a lot of mixed and negative reaction on the sideline.

You hear some of the old-time classic Patriots that are out there that really didn't care for the way Mack conducted himself. Although I've got to give James White credit. He did come out there and try to give him a little bit of a pat on the back and try to at least take some of the pressure off him. And look, these things happen. I mean, you mentioned Tom Brady and Bill O'Brien earlier. You can recall them mixing it up verbally on the sideline several times,

one of which got really heated. The two of those guys were going back and forth. It happens in the course of a game. And you mentioned that very well, you know, as well, this is not something that a player needs to be chastised for. But at the same time, you need to see that growth. You need to see that development. All the players seem to be behind Mac.

They keep giving him as much praise as possible. But that praise is not going to come from Bill Belichick. That's not his job. That's not what he does. And I believe that Bill needs to light a fire under Mac. I think he will. And I think it will be a legitimate one. I'm hopeful that the kid steps up to the plate and I think he has what it takes to be able to prove it, but ultimately it will be a question this off season. So Tanya, I think that, you know, maybe that is a little bit of a bold prediction, but I think it's a very accurate and very well thought out prediction.

So, yeah, that would have made Judge Chamberlain Howler and my cousin Vinny very pretty. It would have made him happy about that. He would look at it. He'd go, Tanya, that is a lucid, well thought out, bold prediction. I love that you shouted out my cousin Vinny. Of course, my fellow Italian. I love this so much. my cousin Vinny. Of course, my fellow Italian. I love this so much. Of course.

Well, let me ask you this. Good, great stuff. Folks, we are not going to turn this into a My Cousin Vinny pod. Tanya and I can probably go for an hour just on that movie alone. Probably just on the Marisa Tomei cross-examination scene. I think we can probably do that. Or maybe the biological clock. That'samination scene. I think we can probably do that.

Or maybe the biological clock. That's another good one. That's a good scene, too. Folks, check out my cousin Vinny this weekend, folks. No, all kidding aside. Tanya, what can I say? We can't end on a better note than that. And you know what? I'm not going to try.

Thank you so much for joining me here today on Locked On. Before I let you go, my friend, please let everyone know where they can find you, where they can interact with you, and where they can check out the great work you do each and every day for FFS1 and the Almost Shameless podcast. Yeah, you guys know the drill. Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, I'm very easy to find at TanyaRayFox. And lots of content on TikTok and Instagram lately. I'm doing a lot of lives and interactive stuff, Q&As, you know, reels. We're having fun over there. We're really beefing up the content

and I'm making it more and more interactive. So on top of the podcasting and things that where it's, you know, it's a recorded medium, whatever I do. I have been interacting more with people live and on the actual apps themselves. So we're going to keep doing that, especially we never know what's happening with Twitter. So we're really trying to focus on Instagram. It seems like it's our safe space these days just in case anything goes down.

So go follow me there as well. Lots of sports stuff and everything else. And then, yeah, and you guys know the podcast, Almost Shameless. You can follow it wherever you listen to podcasts. And, yeah, that's it. Absolutely, folks. And I always say, and I mean this wholeheartedly, anytime Tanya puts voice to microphone,

anytime that she'll put out content, definitely check it out. You'll be more informed. You'll always have something to think about, I guarantee you, and you'll always be entertained. What better way to end the week? So, Tanya, thank you so much, my friend, for dropping by Locked On Patriots. It will not be far from it the last time that you drop by here during the offseason, so we can talk about that bold prediction and so much more.

In the meantime, folks, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules each and every day all week long to spend time with us here on Locked On Patriots. It means the world to me, and I appreciate each and every one of you. Now that you've made us your first listen, please make your second listen our good friends over at the Locked On NFL podcast. All the major stories throughout the gridiron, talking about the shield each and every day, and they do it all with class and with style so definitely check that out wherever you get your podcasts on the odyssey app on youtube or wherever you consume your audio podcasts and of course don't forget download subscribe to follow and smash that subscribe button to locked on patriots on behalf of my good friend tanya ray fox of fs1

i might debate continue to stay safe stay well be the change you wish to see in the world. Have a great day, everyone.