The New England Patriots are in a place that has been completely foreign to them for over two decades. With six games already in the books for the 2023 season, the club finds itself 1-5 and as close to the bottom of the NFL as they’ve been in quite some time. For Bill Belichick, he is off to the worst start of his head coaching career while his team just wrapped up its worst three-game stretch since 1972, being outscored by 73 total points. That poor play coupled with the overall regression from New England’s roster has the drum beating louder than it’s ever been for Belichick’s time with the organization to come to an end.
When the Patriots fell to the Titans on Wild Card Weekend during the 2019 playoffs, I wrote at the time that it felt like the end of an era, highlighting Tom Brady’s looming free agency. That loss and the vibes surrounding it, even with it being months before Brady ultimately opted to leave the Patriots and sign with the Buccaneers, had a feeling of resignation that a chapter was closing. I’m getting a similar sense now with the other pillar of New England’s dynasty in Belichick.
And if this is the end of Belichick’s run with the Patriots as Robert Kraft ultimately decides to part ways with the architect of football’s most prolific dynasty, what does the future in Foxborough look like? Who are the figures tapped to fill that enormous hoodie?
One thing to remember as we go through this exercise is that the Patriots will be filling two positions in the wake of a Belichick departure, in all likelihood. On top of being the head coach, he’s also served as the de facto general manager throughout his tenure. With that in mind, we’ll be filling two jobs with the assumption that New England opts for a more traditional masthead of one GM and one head coach.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of paths that Kraft could go down if the organization parted ways with Belichick after this season.
Continuity
While we’ll get into a more out-of-the-box road Kraft could go down as he restructures his organization post-Belichick, he realistically might already have the pieces in place. Last offseason, the Patriots came out with an unprecedented statement that, in part, revealed that the team was in discussions with linebackers coach Jerod Mayo on an extension. Mayo, who has been a defensive play-caller for the Patriots for the last handful of years, has been pegged as a potential successor to Belichick with Kraft himself even saying this offseason that he is “definitely a strong candidate to be the heir apparent.” That effort by ownership to retain him, along with Mayo forgoing any head coaching interviews last offseason, only added more smoke to that potential outcome.
Mayo has been on Belichick’s staff since 2019 and played his entire eight-year career under him in New England. If Kraft is looking for continuity to carry over from the previous era, albeit with a sprinkle of new blood, letting Mayo ascend to head coach is a way to achieve that. Another way, and this falls under the “sleeper” category, would be if the Tennessee Titans (2-4) were to part ways with head coach Mike Vrabel, who played under Belichick from 2001-2008. Either that or current Vikings DC Brian Flores — a Belichick disciple — could be another sleeper.
In a similar vein, New England could simply promote director of player personnel Matt Groh to general manager and have the final say on roster-related decisions. Groh has been within the organization since 2011 and has been the director of player personnel since 2022. Again, if Kraft wants to keep the Belichickian culture intact, a Mayo-Groh combination would do just that.
Total masthead rebuild
This is where things could get interesting. There is a world where Kraft decides to rip up the roots and plant something completely new in the form of a head coach and GM combination that has little to no ties to Belichick.
If that’s the case and the Patriots go with the trend of a young offensive-minded coach, Detroit’s Ben Johnson will be a popular name that is brought up and could end up being the most sought-after head coaching candidate this cycle. Johnson has been the offensive coordinator with the Lions since 2022 and has been a hot name as a future head coach. Over the last two seasons, the Lions offense has been a top-10 unit in almost every meaningful category and Johnson has helped stabilize Jared Goff’s career with the QB notching a 100.8 passer rating over his tenure as OC.
Seattle’s Shane Waldron is another name to keep an eye on as he is a bit of a hybrid. He started in the NFL as an offensive quality control coach with the Patriots in 2008 and then was promoted to tight ends coach in 2009 before departing Foxborough. Since then, he’s worked under Rams head coach Sean McVay up until taking the offensive coordinator job with the Seahawks in 2021. This season the Waldron-led Seattle offense ranks 11th in passing yards and eighth in points.
Chargers‘ Kellen Moore, Eric Bieniemy in Washington, and Bengals‘ Brian Callahan are a few other offensive-minded names who would make for quality candidates as well.
If the Patriots opt for a defensive-minded coach, it’d make sense to simply have Mayo ascend, but if they are looking for a completely new presence Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and Lou Anarumo in Cincinnati will likely get interviews this cycle. Under Glenn, the Lions have a top-10 defense in yards and points allowed while Anarumo has been considered one of the top defensive minds over the past few years.
As for the front office, 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters is an intriguing name. Similar to Waldron, Adams could be looked at as a hybrid candidate. He broke into the NFL with the Patriots in 2003 as a scouting assistant and spent his final three seasons with the organization (2006-2008) as an area scout. Most recently, Peters has worked under John Lynch in San Francisco, a franchise that has perennially been in the Super Bowl conversation over the last few seasons.
Mike Borgonzi, the assistant GM in Kansas City, is someone else worthy of consideration. The Chiefs have been the dominant team in the NFL in recent seasons, so draining some of that braintrust for New England’s benefit would make sense. Borgonzi also has local ties as an Everett, Massachusetts, native who was a four-year starter at Brown University.
Is New England an attractive destination?
The short answer is yes. The only reason why coaches may be apprehensive about taking this job is simply due to the guy they’d be replacing. Historically, you never want to follow up an icon. That said, the Patriots are well-positioned going forward which makes it an attractive spot for any potential head coaching and general manager candidate.
This coming offseason, whoever is running the organization will likely have a top 10 or possibly even top five draft selection to help springboard the rebuild on top of the second-most cap space in the NFL. That’s enough ammunition to find a new franchise quarterback (if they decide to move off of Mac Jones) and build up a stable roster around that player.
In general, the Patriots are a blue-chip organization with one of the league’s top owners in Kraft. So long as whomever walks through those doors at 1 Patriot Place can endure the pressure of succeeding Belichick, this is a landing spot that is effectively a blank canvas.
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Author: Tyler Sullivan
October 18, 2023 | 1:10 pm
