Kadlick: Robert Kraft Still Respects Bill Belichick, But He’s Done with the Way He’s Running His Patriots Team

The changes that were reported to come following the meeting between Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft have already begun.

On Thursday evening, the team put out the following press release:

PATRIOTS TO EXTEND JEROD MAYO; WILL BEGIN INTERVIEWING FOR AN OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick have begun contract extension discussions with Jerod Mayo that would keep him with the team long-term. In addition, the team will begin interviewing for offensive coordinator candidates beginning next week.

From the looks of it, Robert Kraft is done with the way Bill has run his team since the departure of quarterback Tom Brady – and I can’t say I blame him.

This is clearly a message directly from Kraft. The tight-lipped, soft-spoken Bill Belichick would never put out a release like this about what is going on behind closed doors to the media. Let’s break it down into two parts:

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Patriots to Extend Jerod Mayo

Just this morning, there was a report that the Carolina Panthers had requested an interview with Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo for their vacant head coaching position. The former linebacker has been very transparent about his desire to eventually be a head coach in the NFL – and after interviewing with the Broncos, Raiders, and Eagles in the past, he looked to be on the fast track to get there.

Kraft wasn’t having it, and there are a few reasons why that might be the case:

First of all, it may have been likely that if Mayo left, Steve Belichick would have been next in line to run the defense, and maybe even hold onto the next defensive coordinator title. After this seasons debacle, it’s probably safe to say that Kraft is done with nepotism at One Patriots Place.

Secondly, with Belichick approaching his mid-70s, it’s time for the team to start thinking of “Life After Bill” – and what better way to do that than to have your next head coach already in waiting?

Combining Mayo’s desire to be a head coach one day with the fact they are working to “keep him with the team long-term”, tells me that the job is all but his once Belichick decides to retire.

Patriots Will Begin Interviewing For An Offensive Coordinator

Part two of the bombshell is the announcement that they will move on from Matt Patricia, and begin interviewing for offensive coordinator candidates beginning next week.

This was always going to happen – however, both the urgency of the release and the interviewing timeline are telling. Last season, after Josh McDaniels left for Las Vegas, Belichick waited until the last possible second to replace his role on the staff – and it failed.

Instead of bringing in a proven play-caller a la Bill O’Brien, he opted to wait it out and brought Matt Patricia and Joe Judge along to take over the operation.

Kraft isn’t letting that happen this year either.

Names I would look out for that could be brought in next week for these meetings are Bill O’Brien, Zac Robinson, Kliff Kingsbury, and Mike LeFleur. O’Brien has been here in the past and is familiar with the organization, Robinson is a quarterbacks coach ready to make a jump, and Kingsbury was just fired from his head coaching position in Arizona – but has proven to be a high-quality offensive play caller.

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I originally thought that the changes in Foxboro would be incremental, maybe a Troy Brown or a Nick Caley elevation to offensive coordinator, and bringing Matt Patricia back to the defensive side of the ball should Mayo leave for greener pastures. However – after today’s release, it looks like they’re going for it all, as they should.

It’s now or never for Mac Jones and the rest of their young players to build a new culture in Foxboro.

So where does the respect for Belichick come in? Well, 31 other owners would have likely fired their head coach after what happened in Foxboro in 2022. That will never be the case here. Like it or not, BB is the greatest coach in NFL history – and he’s earned the benefit of the doubt when it comes to making monumental changes within the organization.

Good on Kraft for doing all he can, outside of straight-up firing Bill, to try and get his ship back to sea.

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