We are now entering the fourth season removed from Tom Brady’s departure, and Bill Belichick could be entering his last season as the Patriots’ head coach. The vibe that I get is that the fanbase is and has continued to sour on Bill Belichick.
I think the allure of being that team has worn off in recent years for obvious reasons. In the three seasons the team has had post-Tom Brady, they’ve made the playoffs just once and have not won a playoff game.
That is better than quite a few teams over the last few seasons, but this is not the expectation of the New England Patriots. I think, unless there is a huge turnaround in 2023, this could be the last year that Belichick remains as the head coach and general manager of the Patriots.
3 reasons this is Bill Belichick’s last year as Pats’ head coach
Has not established a clear plan at QB
We are now entering the fourth year removed from Tom Brady leaving the team after the 2019 playoff loss to the Tennessee Titans, and Bill Belichick has not put in place a clear plan at QB. He made a huge mistake in signing Cam Newton for the 2020 season and doesn’t look like he got the Mac Jones’ selection right.
We’ll see what his plan is for the 2023 NFL Draft, but I doubt they’ll land a top QB prospect. If Belichick’s failure to put a clear succession plan in place at the most important position in sports is something that can ruin the rest of his tenure, and will stand as the biggest reason why the Patriots won’t win.
3 reasons this is Bill Belichick’s last year as Pats’ head coach
Multiple candidates in-house to take over as HC
Between Jerod Mayo and new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien, there are multiple candidates in-house that might seamlessly take over as Belichick once he steps down as HC or perhaps mutually parts ways.
The big thing here for me is that the Pats don’t want to risk losing Mayo or potentially O’Brien, whose successful HC tenure in the NFL was marred by his failure as their de-facto GM. Both men are great coaches and will get a shot to be a head coach in the NFL. Perhaps Robert Kraft does not want to run the risk that either or both of Mayo or O’Brien departs for greener pastures.
What happens if the Pats go 8-9 again and both Mayo and O’Brien are presented with better opportunities elsewhere? In that case, it might be smart to have Belichick step aside to make room for one of them as the next head coach, likely being Jerod Mayo.
It’s clear that the Patriots need some fresh ideas at the HC spot, and they potentially have two very quality candidates inside the building already who might be able to provide those fresh ideas.
3 reasons this is Bill Belichick’s last year as Pats’ head coach
Extremely puzzling decisions have been made in recent seasons
Bill Belichick seems to be overthinking this and trying to be more clever than he needs to be. Some of the decisions he’s made over the last few seasons have been puzzling, to say the least.
Signing Cam Newton after hardly playing the year before and not playing well was a bad move. It’s clear that Newton was well over the hump, and the 2020 season effectively was a wash because of it.
The Patriots could have opted to trot out an even lesser QB to try and net a higher draft pick, but them trying to make it work with Newton was a silly move.
Another weird move was parting with a third round pick to land DeVante Parker from the Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins felt so highly of Parker than they weren’t concerned about trading him in the division. It’s not that Parker is a bad player–he isn’t, but giving up a third round pick for an aging receiver who doesn’t have WR1 potential was a silly move.
And perhaps the most obvious puzzling move here was putting Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in charge of the offense for 2022. What was Bill Belichick thinking? It clearly didn’t work and the Patriots’ offense as a whole entirely regressed to the point where no one truly knows what Mac Jones is anymore.
These decisions have set the team back further and should be enough to force Belichick to step aside at the end of the season.