Mazz: Belichick is laying the coaching foundation for the future
As the Patriots continue to get set for the 2022 season, the coaching staff remains a hot topic. On Thursday’s Felger and Mazz program, Mazz gave us his theory on what Bill Belichick is doing with his coaching staff for the 2022 Patriots season.
Transcript:
Mazz: Number one is this…that they are willing to suffer for at least part of the time until they figure it out. Which means that the 2022 season is in jeopardy. And when I say in jeopardy, you know what I mean…that they are willing to sacrifice games particularly early on, and through the middle of the year until they get this thing figured out. And secondly, my other takeaway is that Bill is, in fact, laying foundation for the years when he is gone.
And, you know, those two are two very different things. One is short term, one is long. But if we talk about bringing in Patricia and bringing in Judge and, you know, his son on defense and turning over the roster, he is laying all the pieces in place so that they will have an organization to run that will suit them when he’s long gone. That is what I now believe.
Felger: Mazz, you made a point there that I haven’t, you know, considered or heard yet. It’s interesting. Laying the foundation for future years, for when he’s gone, you know, modernizing the offense and setting it up and getting Jones experienced in it before he moves on, and then the next guy comes in and invariably gets with the Joneses, the Mcvay’s, and the Shanahan’s and installs the same thing. That’s an interesting take.
Mazz: Yeah, exactly. And again, look, I just think that Bill’s been kind of angling this way anyway. You’ve made the point a million times, Mike. Okay? That Bill never, Bill Belichick never liked the way that Parcells would light places on fire and run out the door. Bill Parcells had this track record of being in places, you know, 3 to 4 years, light the place on fire, run out the door and leave it in ruins. And Bill Belichick was never going to do it that way.
And I think that he now looks at this as, okay, Robert, give me a three or four year period. I’ll turn over your roster. We’ll start to build you for the future. We’ll get you set up to function after I am gone and they’re going to start running this new offense on top of that. And so like I think it all kind of runs together now. I think that that’s what’s happening here.
Felger: How do you feel about that?
Mazz: Well, so again, I don’t mind that part of it. Like if you were to say I would actually give Bill a little tip of the cap and say, okay, good, like that is the noble thing to do. That’s the right thing to do, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of winning at the same time. That’s the part that I can’t square. So I look at it now and I said, well, what the hell is going on here? So are they…If they’re going to stick with this thing and that is truly what they’re doing, well then they’re willing to let at least part of this season burn. Because one of the things I said to you, Mike, is I don’t think their defense is going to be good enough to cover up for deficiencies in the offense.
I think it has to be the other way around this year. I don’t think their personnel on defense is going to be good enough. And if there are going to be bumps, and again, hitting the belly against the ground here as they get this thing up in the air, well that means you’re going to lose games. You’re going to cost yourself games at least part of the time, which means this could be a really bumpy year.
Murray: Yeah, almost like a throwaway year. So it’s a building block. So you can actually, you know, utilize this offense going forward. But for his legacy, I guess maybe that’s a bit strong, but can he risk doing this right now, considering again, like Brady keeps winning, he’s already won a Super Bowl. You’re behind the eight ball. You didn’t have a plan and this is what you’re doing. I don’t think he can afford to do it.
Felger: Yeah, I just don’t think it was necessary on that side of the ball. You know, we’ve talked a lot about Bill needing to get with the times and modernize. And is he, you know, has the game passed him by? I’ve really only talked about that in the context of defense. I don’t feel like offensively that that was the issue.
