Patriots
“How do you see this group operating for the subsequent 10 years?”
With the 3-10 Patriots crawling to the end line in a depressing 2023 season, the prevailing narrative hovering over Foxborough today surrounds the way forward for Invoice Belichick as head coach.
However amid all the hypothesis surrounding the legendary head coach and the powerful determination that awaits Robert Kraft and the crew’s possession group, NBC Sports activities Boston’s Tom E. Curran dropped a bombshell report earlier this week — with the longtime Patriots scribe noting that the choice about Belichick’s future has already been decided by Kraft.
“After they got here out of [the 10-6 loss to the Colts on Nov. 12 in] Germany, conversations I had that week made it very clear {that a} determination was made,” Curran mentioned throughout an look on “Arbella Early Version” on Monday. “They had been going to play out the string, and on the finish of the 12 months, there could be a parting of the methods for a wide range of causes.”
As anticipated, any report mapping out some stage of finality with Belichick’s future in New England has drawn loads of headlines. And whereas Belichick has remained mum on the subject, a number of former NFL gamers and staffers have given their take about Kraft’s franchise-shifting determination.
Former NFL GM and ex-Patriots staffer Michael Lombardi joined that record on Thursday morning throughout an look on “The Pat McAfee Present”.
Lombardi, who labored underneath Invoice Belichick as an assistant to the Patriots’ teaching employees from 2014-16, has usually spoken out in assist of Belichick through the years.
However when requested about Curran’s report, Lombardi did acknowledge there’s loads of smoke surrounding Belichick’s job standing in New England. Nevertheless, he additionally added that his most important takeaway from the report revolves across the timing of a possible ousting for Belichick.
“I do assume Curran undoubtedly has sources. And I don’t assume he would have put this story out until he felt actually snug with it,” Lombardi mentioned on “The Pat McAfee Present”. “He’s accomplished an amazing job. He’s lined the crew for a very long time. I discovered it attention-grabbing that it got here out this week versus the week they got here again throughout their bye week or the week earlier than once they performed Tommy DeVito in New York.
“I believe the timing tells me that what the message actually is we aren’t going to fireplace Invoice Belichick in-season. So if we lose by 21 factors on Sunday to the Chiefs, don’t come ask us that we’re going to fireplace him.”
Lombardi doesn’t imagine that Kraft’s determination is essentially set in stone, given the long-term implications that may come from parting methods with Belichick.
From Lombardi’s perspective, Belichick’s future in New England may in the end come down as to if or not Belichick is malleable to a change in path from the group — with Belichick probably given much less pull by way of all personnel selections.”
Perhaps the Kraft household has determined we don’t actually need the Lone Star mannequin,” Lombardi said of the Krafts altering their management construction in 2024. “Perhaps we’d like a extra collaborative effort as we get later in our careers and because the head coach will get later in his profession. So perhaps they sit down and say, ‘Hey, pay attention, we need to do that with the group. And the imaginative and prescient we now have that’s going to maneuver ahead doesn’t assist the Lone Star mannequin.’ Once more, that is all hypothetical.
“And so I believe that’s form of the place it’s. How do you see this group operating for the subsequent 10 years? And also you’re not going to interchange Invoice Belichick. You’re simply not going to do it. I imply, you’re not going to do it from a training standpoint. However maybe you may change him with three or 4 extra folks and have a collaborative group, which, I believe that’s the dialog.
“And if Invoice says ‘Yeah, I believe I might try this.’ Then perhaps he stays. If Invoice says, ‘No, that’s not in the very best curiosity of me,’ then perhaps he goes. To me, that’s why I don’t see it as a very accomplished determination. As a result of that is actually about the way forward for how we need to run the corporate.”
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