Patriots: Matt Patricia dictating draft process doesn’t feel great
By Jerry Trotta
When Matt Patricia was fired as head coach of the Detroit Lions, it was immediately speculated that he could rejoin the New England Patriots, where he spent six years of his coaching career as the defensive coordinator.
As we know, it didn’t take that long for that reunion to come to fruition.
When the hiring was announced however, fans wondered what Patricia’s new role would be. After all, all the report claimed was that he’d be returning in a “variety of roles.”
Given his reputation as a defensive savant, most fans probably surmised that Patricia, though he wouldn’t be returning to his former post as defensive coordinator, would assume a reasonably important role pertaining to that side of the ball. Well…
While that could very well be the case, it appears the longtime Patriots assistant is poised to take on a new role entirely. During his pre-draft press conference on Thursday, head coach Bill Belichick revealed that Patricia has been “heavily involved” in draft proceedings.
For any Patriots fans who grimaced after reading that shocking disclosure, we were right there alongside you when we first stumbled across this story.
Back with the Patriots in a new role, Matt Patricia has been "heavily involved" in New England's draft prep. https://t.co/CTHWZbqYGp pic.twitter.com/u1alkRQJdS
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) April 15, 2021
Patriots fans won’t like hearing that Matt Patricia has been ‘heavily involved’ in the team’s draft process.
It remains to be seen exactly what Patricia’s role in the pre-draft process is, as he supposedly hasn’t accompanied front office executives Dave Ziegler, Matt Groh and Eliot Wolf, all of whom have major say in personnel decisions, on trips to see prospects perform at their respective pro days.
Perhaps the former Lions head coach has merely been tasked with accumulating information on potential draft fits, but even that’s a scary thought considering he’s never really had a say in the personnel department, let alone the draft, before.
That speaks volumes given that Patricia served on the Patriots’ coaching staff for 14 seasons (2004 through 2017) and was never entrusted with anything more than devising defensive schemes and getting the most out of his players on game day.
We personally loved the idea of bringing Patricia back. Not only will it benefit the defense, which underperformed last season compared to its standards, but it will also take some of the pressure off Belichick’s shoulders so he can focus on other areas of the roster.
However, we’d be lying if we said finding out that Patricia will have a prominent voice in this month’s draft with very little previous experience in the field didn’t give us a little bit of pause. Let’s hope Belichick and Co. know what they’re doing with this bold move.
