Instead of replacing Dean Pees as defensive coordinator, the New England Patriots are going to go without one in 2010.
Well, actually coach Bill Belichick is going to get more involved with the defense.
Linebackers coach Matt Patricia had been rumored as a candidate to be elevated to defensive coordinator. Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson, to a lesser extent, had been mentioned as a possible defensive coordinator, too.
The Patriots finished 11th in total defense last season, but were shredded against the Houston Texans in the regular-season finale and the Baltimore Ravens ran roughshod over them in an AFC wild-card loss.
Belichick announced the hire of former Patriots safety Corwin Brown, who will help Josh Boyer with the secondary.
“Titles are fine, nothing wrong with them, but the most important thing is each person’s role, that we do everything we can to help the players succeed – everyone collectively getting the job done," Belichick said. "Corwin Brown is one of the high-class people in football. He was a tough, smart leader who was great to coach and those are the traits he brings to our staff.
"He has stepped in well with Josh Boyer, Matt Patricia, Pepper Johnson, Pat Graham and myself, and as a group we are committed to putting a competitive defense on the field. This is the best course for us to move forward in 2010.”
The Patriots announced no major changes with the offense or the rest of the staff, including quarterbacks coach Bill O'Brien. O'Brien called a lot of the plays last season.
“Bill O’Brien has demonstrated excellent leadership and organizational skills in our offense,” Belichick said“He is a sharp and passionate coach. It is a good mix on that side of the ball, with Bill working with some extremely experienced coaches in Dante Scarnecchia and Ivan Fears, who have been here my entire time in New England, and some more recent additions to the staff in Chad O’Shea and Brian Ferentz.”
Ferentz is the new tight ends coach.
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Pepper Johnson has been with the Pats since 2000 when BB first arrived, and passed over twice for the DC nod. I would not say that he is on the fast track. He's a position coach, nothing more.
"Ferentz is the new tight ends coach." I haven't see this anywhere else.
No defensive coordinator, no offensive coordinator, no GM......no championship....
Cheap owner + big ego coach= Further Slippage
Sonny:
If you've been a Pats fan or BB fan you'd now that he favors smaller staffs. It has nothing to do w/the owner being cheap -- get your facts straight before making comments.
Hey Nikos, I've been a Pats fan for over 35 years and have seen every game in that time. so I'll make whatever comments i feel like making, okay?.... I am not happy with the way this team is headed..... I know BB likes small staffs, but enough of the inbreeding and putting kids in over their heads.... The offense was predictable, unorganized and basically sucked in second halves this year.... how many timeouts were wasted because they couldn't get a play in? Even I knew what they were going to run in critical short yardage plays.... I have no issue with BB taking over the defense, but only if he had a PRO running the offense... And Kraft IS cheap when it comes to re-signing players.... Samuel was lowballed and now they will do it to Wilfork.... and don't get me started with the crappy drafting we've done since the last superbowl win either...
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Feb 05, 2010
06:41 PM
Wiki says Ferentz was also a scout for the team. Was he the person who helped elevate Vollmer's status in scouting ranks? He already has a coaching family tree and legit experience as a player. He sounds like the kind of coach who will really get into drills with his players to hone their competitiveness.
One gets the feeling that the emergence of certain young Pats linemen couples the promotion of Ferentz.
Included are addtional coaches known for really getting game plans. Pepper Johnson is on the fast track, Corwin Brown has the kind of approach as a player Bill would expect of a young coach. Energetic, high motor types, the people to make certain Pats players overachieve in every instance and commit to the game plan fully.