Congrats to Bill Belichick for Making the Best Coaching Hire of the Year: Bill Belichick

So let’s review. The Patriots lose three defensive coordinators in just over 12 months. First Matt Patricia leaves for the Detroit job after being the DC on three Super Bowl teams and winning two rings. Then Brian Flores gets promoted, his defense shuts down one of the highest scoring offenses in NFL history, he wins a ring and goes to Miami. So they replace him with Greg Schiano and he leaves for personal reasons in a matter of weeks.

So what do they do now that their DC position has turned into the Defense Against the Dark Arts job of their Hogwarts? Dumbledore takes over the job. They upgrade to the greatest wizard of all time, that’s what they do.

I find it hilarious that as the Jets make Adam Gase, a guy with three years of head coaching experience and a sub-.500 record, the 20th – that’s TWO ZEROth – GM in the rest of the AFC East since Belichick took over New England in 2000, that Belichick is getting more involved on the coaching level. Gase has never had a say in his personnel but is now getting the total control that only guys like Belichick and Pete Carroll are trusted with. While the most accomplished man in the history of the modern era is going to be more hands on, holding the playsheet, making the calls.

And you know what to me is even better than seeing a peerless genius (whose gameplan that won a Super Bowl 30 years ago went straight to the Hall of Fame) is taking over the defense? The fact that this is the same Bill Belichick who just last year was supposedly on his way out. Never forget that guys like Felger and Mazz were talking about how disgruntled he was. That he was a little Croatian ball of resentment because his quarterback and his owner were conspiring against him and he was mentally checked out. Hell, they were saying he benched Malcolm Butler just out of spite. And if you want to get really crazy, go back to February of 2018 when there was speculation out of New York that he wanted out of his contract so he could go back to coaching his first love, the Giants. Never, ever forget that people were talking about all this like they were facts not in dispute.

Instead, he’s getting more involved. And we should all rejoice. Maybe it’ll evolve over the course of the year. As Bret Beielma gets more up to speed on the scheme, the calls and the nomenclature. As Jerod Mayo gets a little more acclimated to being a full time professional coach and not just the “coach on the field” that he was since his rookie season. Then this could all be subject to change.

But for now, while much of the rest of the league descends into chaos and turmoil, the continuity of the Patriots dynasty continues, thanks to one man.