One of the most chaotic seasons in Patriots history came to an end on Sunday, with a 35-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Their loss paired with a Miami Dolphins win sent the Dolphins to the playoffs and the Patriots packing.

ESPN’s Mike Reiss joined Toucher & Rich this morning and was asked what the Patriots coaching staff looks like for the 2023 season.

Rich Shertenlieb: What does this coaching staff look like next year?

Mike Reiss: The first thing I would say is to look at just the facts, guys. When you look at the offense, it has regressed in every key category from last year to this year. The key factor in that is that they are most of the same players back. So I’m just using common sense. I mean, something went wrong and it’s either how Bill Belichick put together the coaching staff or that decision that he talked about in the Spring to streamline the offense. To sort of tear it down, if you will, and build it back up again.

So I think it’s going to be hard for him to justify coming back with the same staff and the same, call it ‘streamlined system’. What that looks like, I would just be guessing. I think the key question that Bill Belichick needs to answer, and this is what I would focus on, is does he want to stay in the family per se? And that would lead us to Bill O’Brien, which we’ve talked about. Or does he look at it and say, I’m ready to go out and hire someone from another offensive tree. Call it for a hypothetical. Kyle Shanahan, he has spoken with respect about that offense. Maybe you go find someone that has actually run that offense and he says, I’ll work with them and hand it over to them.

LISTEN HERE:

Nick Gemelli is a Producer for the Toucher and Rich program and contributor for 985thesportshub.com. you can follow Nick at @NickGemelli on Twitter.

Follow @Toucherandrich on Twitter, @Toucherandrichofficial and @fredtoucher on Instagram to keep up with the show!