The succession plan for Bill Belichick as the head coach of the New England Patriots was quick and simple. Just about 24 hours after announcing they were parting ways with Belichick, the Patriots had named Jerod Mayo the 15th head coach in franchise history.
As for replacing Belichick as the team’s de facto general manager? That process has been a bit more convoluted.
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After initial reports suggested a wider-ranging search for an external GM, the tone seemed to shift over the weekend. In his Sunday notes column, ESPN’s Mike Reiss noted that “history suggests that any hire is unlikely to be a GM who is given authority to run the entire football operation. Instead, the Krafts will be looking for someone to oversee personnel and work in concert with new head coach Jerod Mayo.”
Who might that be? Reiss said that “interviews with external candidates are still in play” but that “with the current staff remaining in place at least through the draft…the Krafts seem to be taking the view that there is no need to rush.”
SI’s Albert Breer shared a similar report on Monday. “The Krafts do believe they’ve got good people in scouting, and people they know Mayo can work with,” Breer wrote. “So, for now, director of player personnel Matt Groh, director of scouting Eliot Wolf, senior personnel adviser Pat Stewart, pro scouting director Steve Cargile and college scouting director Cam Williams will run free agency and the draft, as the Patriots consider how they want to reshape the department.”
Breer added that while owner Robert Kraft could add an outside perspective at some point down the road but “for now, he’s going to watch how the personnel department works in a new setup, where big decisions will be theirs.”
Jul 26, 2023; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots director of player personnel Matt Groh speaks at training camp at Gillette Stadium. Credit: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports
Fans may certainly disagree with the decision to not at least add externally to the personnel staff, if not blow the whole thing up. That’s another very fair conversation, but a move that doesn’t appear to be on the way in reality. So for now let’s talk about what to expect from this staff as constructed.
The answer to that is far more complicated than it may initially seem. None of the staffers Breer lists have run their own personnel department in the past (Wolf was the closest, as the assistant general manager of the Cleveland Browns from 2018-2019). They’ve all spent their time in New England working under Belichick, who had final say in personnel matters.
Given that, it’s difficult to say what any of their priorities for philosophies are when it comes to team building. Will they pick right back up where Belichick left off? Or start doing things differently, with ‘final say’ now belonging to someone else (as for who exactly that is, that’s another big question)?
There’s some evidence it could be the latter. Late last week, Breer wrote a column on the final years of the Belichick era in New England in which he noted that Belichick had started overruling scouts when it came to the draft, specifically citing the first round of the 2019 draft, when Belichick selected Arizona State wide receiver N’Keal Harry on recommendations from the Sun Devils’ coaching staff, rather than the receivers his scouts preferred – Deebo Samuel and A.J. Brown.
“It was—to the scouts—another example that they weren’t being heard and that Belichick was taking the information he’d gathered instead of what they’d spent months and months compiling,” Breer wrote.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 13: N’Keal Harry #15 of the New England Patriots runs with the ball against the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium on September 13, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Is it possible that some of those staffers that Belichick overruled are now in line to have much more sway when it comes to the team’s personnel decision making? Groh, in particular, seems like somebody who could take a different approach at the wide receiver position in particular.
Part of what makes projecting the new Patriots front office so tough is none of the group have spoken much – if at all – with the media on the topic of team building. However, Groh did an interview with Evan Lazar of Patriots.com ahead of last year’s NFL Combine where he discussed his philosophies on building up a number of positions. In particular, his answer on wide receivers stands out now, almost a year later.
“With any of these positions, certainly at a playmaker position, there’s a price you have to pay for these guys,” Groh said. “So whether that’s allocating cap space or allocating a high draft pick, to be aggressive, if you want to have those dynamic playmakers, you have to pay the price for them.”
That aggressive approach to the wide receiver position certainly goes counter to how the Patriots have operated the last few years. In addition Groh spoke with Lazar about the need to capitalize on the flexibility afforded by having a quarterback on a rookie contract (can be heard just before the 40:00 minute mark of the below podcast), something the Patriots came up short on in regards to 2021 first-round pick Mac Jones.
