NFL

The sneaky reason Bill Belichick may be withholding coordinator titles

Patriots coach Bill Belichick always appears to have something up his sleeve.

It’s been widely documented that Belichick has not named an offensive or defensive coordinator for New England this year. Tom E. Curran, the Patriots’ insider for NBC Sports Boston, has grown weary of hearing about it and plainly stated his take on the matter.

“I’m nearing IDGAF territory on the playcaller/OC/DC talk,” Curran tweeted on Tuesday. “Patricia is going to call the plays and be acting OC. But not naming him allows Pats to let Detroit keep paying him through end of his Lions contract [2022] and means Patricia doesn’t have to do weekly coordinator calls.”

Patricia, who previously served as the Patriots’ defensive coordinator, was fired by the Lions midway through the 2020 season after compiling a record of 13-29-1. He was previously believed to be in a competition with fellow New England alum Joe Judge, who was fired by the Giants in January after two losing seasons.

Bill Belichick is not naming Matt Patricia as official offensive coordinator for sneaky reasons.
Bill Belichick is not naming Matt Patricia as official offensive coordinator for sneaky reasons. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Because Patricia signed a five-year contract when he first took the Lions job in 2018, the organization is obligated to pay him this year. As Curran also pointed out Monday in his column, “Naming [Patricia] a coordinator would mean the Patriots would have to pay him like a coordinator and why do that when the Lions are still paying Patricia through the end of the 2022 season?”

The offensive coordinator job became vacant when Josh McDaniels left the Patriots in January to become head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

On the other side of the ball, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer points out that New England has not had a formal defensive coordinator since Patricia left the organization in 2018.

Matt Patricia checks his notes as the offense rests during Patriots minicamp in June 2022.
Matt Patricia checks his notes as the offense rests during Patriots minicamp in June 2022. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

“We are not really big on titles and all that,” Belichick said earlier this week of his decision not to name coordinators. “I think it’s important that we all work together and create a great final product, so that’s what we’re going to try to do. That’s what we’ve always done.”

Title or no title, Patricia — who is listed as a senior football advisor/offensive line on the team’s website — was calling the offensive plays Wednesday at training camp, per NBC Sports.