Getty New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
T
he biggest secret amongst the New England Patriots is who will be calling plays on offense this season. With OTAs underway, fans might have a glimpse of who will be replacing Josh McDaniels.
ALL the latest Patriots news straight to your inbox! Join the Heavy on Patriots newsletter here!
OTAs kicked off on Monday as the Patriots begin their preparation for the 2022 NFL regular season. The media got a first look at how coaches are interacting with players and how certain guys are looking early on in the NFL year.
NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran believes based on what he saw, Bill Belichick is the offensive coordinator at the moment with Joe Judge handling the passing game and Matt Patricia handling the running game.
“Off of one OTA in May Bill Belichick was serving as offensive coordinator.. we don’t know if that’s temporary or not,” Curran stated on “The Pat McAfee Show.”
When asked if he will be calling plays, Belichick wasn’t exactly forthright with the media.
“I’ve called them and I haven’t called them,” Belichick said when speaking to the media on Monday. “Other people have called them and haven’t called them. We’ll see.”
Do Patriots Coaches Have Titles?
The Patriots have been quite coy this entire offseason regarding what roles coaches have on both offense and defense. Judge has stated that he has been working with Mac Jones and skill position players while Matt Patricia was working with the offensive line.
On defense, Jerod Mayo and Belichick’s son Steve described themselves as football coaches and Belichick said he doesn’t have an answer when asked by the media if he was the defensive coordinator.
On Monday, New England’s head coach said that while the Patriots have titles, those can change.
“Do we have titles? Yeah, look, there’s a lot of jobs that we have to do, we’re all working on those things now but — it’s May,” Belichick said. “They’ll change in June, they’ll change in August, they’ll change in September. So, we’ll evolve it to the things timely that we need to do. If you’re asking about game plans, we’re months away from that — months.”
Is This the First Time Bill Belichick Has Done This?
Belichick has been quite coy with play-calling responsibilities since the beginning of his career. Back when he was a rookie head coach for the Cleveland Browns, the Akron Beacon Journal called Belichick’s play-calling system a secret strategy. Patriots play-by-play announcer Bob Socci posted the article on Twitter on Tuesday.
In an offseason full of questions about #Patriots play-calling responsibilities on offense, yesterday’s OTA featured more of the same.
If past is prologue, that’s likely to continue.
From the Akron Beacon Journal, Aug. 6-7, 1991.
Just as it appears to be the case right now in New England, Belichick ended up calling the plays on offense for the Browns. He had the help of some amazing coaches including Belichick’s right-hand man, Ernie Adams.
It remains to be seen if Belichick will be calling plays once the 2022 regular season arrives but for right now, the head coach is also serving as offensive coordinator and appears to be calling plays. The opportunity serves as yet another chance for Belichick to show just how great of a coach he is after an already impressive coaching career in New England.