Here's Bill Belichick's message of optimism to fans for 2023 Patriots season

BOSTON -- The 2022 Patriots did not live up to the standards established in New England over the past two-plus decades. A sub-.500 record, a third-place finish, and a failure to make the playoffs for the second time in three years is not the type of season that brings about satisfaction in a place that got comfortable hanging six Super Bowl banners at Gillette Stadium.

Change, though, is afoot. Matt Patricia may not be a part of the coaching staff anymore but certainly is no longer running the offense. Bill O'Brien and Adrian Klemm were hired to do the heavy lifting. Some players moved out, some players moved in. The improvement may be incremental, or it may be significant. That much won't be determined until the fall.

It was understandable, though, that when Bill Belichick sat down with the media for almost a half-hour on Monday at the league meetings in Arizona, he was asked what his message to the fans would be in terms of where the team currently sits.

"Long way to go. It's March. We play in September," Belichick said. "We've got a long way to go. Got a lot of work to do."

In a follow-up, Belichick was asked what he would tell fans to give them a reason to be optimistic for next season.

"The last 25 years," he answered. 

On one hand, the answer is sensible. No team even came close to experiencing the success that the Patriots had from 2001-18, when they won the aforementioned six Super Bowls and played in three more. 

But ... the success over that 18-year stretch didn't help the Patriots much in 2020, when they went 7-9, and it didn't help much in 2021, when they got blown out of their lone playoff game. And of course, it didn't help last year, when they finished 8-9, under .500 for the second time in three years, extending their stretch without a playoff victory to four years.

Nevertheless, in a rather terse but lengthy meeting with the media, Belichick referred back to the Patriots' success quite a bit when asked about the present and future of the team.

When asked why Cam Achord remains the Patriots' best option at special teams coach despite the obvious struggles last season, Belichick referred back to the 2020 season.

"Great coach. Led the league in special teams in '19 or '20, whatever year it was. '20," Belichick said. "Yeah I don't think that's a problem."

Belichick was also asked for more details on his January comment about the Patriots ranking 27th in cash spending over the past three years. Belichick noted that his comment came as a clarification about the team's spending splurge in 2021 free agency, and reiterated that the Patriots are always a "competitive" team.

"Look, I think we've been pretty competitive every year that I've been here with the Patriots. So that's our overall plan, and so I would expect it to continue that way," he said. "We've managed pretty well over the last 20 however many years, so I think we'll continue managing it in a way that we've been competitive every year, and I expect that we'll continue to be competitive."

Last year, the Patriots went 8-9 overall but 1-6 against teams that made the playoffs. Belichick was asked what the team has done to close the gap between them and the rest of the conference.

"Yeah well, we'll see. You know, we'll see," Belichick said.

When asked how much pressure he puts on himself in an offseason like this one, Belichick indicated that he's sticking to the usual routine.

"It's the start of the year. It's the same every year. It doesn't matter what happened last year. The start of the year is the start of the year," Belichick said. "So, going to try to do the best job I can do this year just like I did last year and the year before that and the year before that, and the 20 years before that, and the 20-something years before that. So I'll do the best I can. I'm sure not everyone will be happy with it, but I'll going to do the best that I can."

As for the future, Belichick wasn't overly interested in exploring that topic, either.

When asked about his potential to pass Don Shula on the all-time coaching wins list (Belichick needs 18 wins to tie Shula and 19 to set a new record), Belichick passed on the opportunity to speak about it.

"I haven't really thought about it," Belichick said. "Look, I mean I have great respect for the game and all that. Not really worried about that now. The 2023 season is all I'm concerned about."

And as he approaches his 71st birthday in April, Belichick was asked if there have been any discussions about a succession plan in New England, either with O'Brien or Jerod Mayo or anybody else.

"Yeah I'm planning on coaching this year and trying to do a good job this year," he answered. "That's my plan."

Obviously -- obviously -- everyone knows not to expect a rah-rah, Pete Carroll-esque pump-up speech from Bill Belichick at any time of year, let alone at his annual "breakfast" with reporters at the league meetings. So it's not surprising at all for Belichick to be muted with any proclamations of greatness, and it's even less surprising to see Belichick turn down an opportunity to inspire fans to believe in the New England Patriots.

Understood.

Still, the team has lacked a clear direction for four years. Let Tom Brady walk, express public confidence in Jarrett Stidham, sign Cam Newton in the summer, draft Mac Jones a year later. Place the franchise tag on Joe Thuney for a sub-.500 season after letting Brady leave in free agency. Spend big on free agency in 2021, after going low in 2020. Replace Josh McDaniels with a defensive coach in Matt Patricia and a special teams coach in Joe Judge. Replace Patricia a year later, and promote Judge. All of that adds up to four years without a playoff victory, a 25-26 record since Brady left, and growing doubt that significant improvement is coming in the near future.

At a certain point, the success of the past no longer helps inspire confidence in the future. For now, Belichick doesn't believe the Patriots have yet reached that point.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.