Bill Belichick downplays Patriots' lack of offensive play-caller
BOSTON -- Around New England, there's been some consternation about the Patriots' plans on the offensive side of the coaching staff. With Josh McDaniels (and three other assistants) leaving, the void of experience in terms of offensive play-calling on the coaching staff is a bit jarring.
Yet Bill Belichick doesn't seem to be even slightly concerned.
The Patriots' head coach spoke to the media on Monday morning, ahead of the team's first on-field OTA session of the offseason. Unsurprisingly, the lack of a dedicated offensive play-caller was a persistent topic of conversation. Just as expectedly, Belichick made sure to minimize the perceived issue.
The topic was first broached with a question about Belichick being more involved than usual with the offensive coaching staff this year. Belichick's answer suggested his involvement on offense was not out of the ordinary.
"Good. Yeah, I mean, I work with all the coaches. Just trying to be involved in everything," Belichick said. "So, that's the head coach's job. Support all parts of the program."
Belichick was then asked if the roles of the coaching staff are specified at this point in time. Belichick pointed out that the team won't need to be actually calling offensive plays for a while.
"Yeah, look, there's a lot of jobs that we have to do. We're all working on those things. Now, it's May. They'll change in June, they'll change in August, they'll change in September, so evolve. We'll do the things timely that we need to do," Belichick said. "I mean, if you're asking about game plans, we're months away from that. Months."
Asked specifically about offensive play-calling, Belichick reiterated the fact that no competitive reps will take place until the summer.
"Months away. Months. What plays are we calling? Mini-camp plays?" Belichick asked a reporter. "We're gonna coach the team, coach the players, get them ready to go, we're gonna game-plan when we have to game-plan, we'll play-call, do all the things that we need to do to compete in games. Right now we're months away from that."
Belichick did say that despite the lack of an offensive coordinator on the staff right now, he does anticipate naming one ... just not any time soon.
"When we get to it, we'll get to it," Belichick said.
Belichick -- who's now in his 48th NFL season -- also downplayed the play-caller's impact on the success of the offense, instead stressing the importance of the players on the field.
"Execution of the plays I think are a lot more important than the plays themselves," he said. "So. I've called 'em, I've not called 'em. I've called 'em and I've not called 'em. So has everybody else. ... I've called them and I haven't called them. And other people have called them and they haven't called them. So, we'll see."
Belichick did admit that he does believe that a specified offensive play-caller will need to be determined at a certain point. When asked if he has that exact date right now, Belichick's answer was short and to the point:
"No."
