After months of secrecy, the Patriots finally enlightened us Thursday, announcing titles for the team’s coaching staff ahead of next week’s training camp at Gillette Stadium.
Joe Judge, back in Foxboro after a brief stint coaching the Giants, will assume the role of offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach while senior football advisor Matt Patricia will take on offensive line duties. Rounding out the staff are linebackers coach Steve Belichick and Jerod Mayo.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, it’s the first time the Patriots have entered the year without an offensive or defensive coordinator since 2010. No one has held the defensive coordinator title in New England since Patricia in 2018. Once occupied by Josh McDaniels (who the Patriots will encounter twice this year, once in their preseason finale and again in Week 15), the offensive coordinator position will remain vacant, though, presumably, that will be Judge and Patricia’s jurisdiction.
The Patriots have assembled a unique staff full of familiar faces, eschewing defined roles in favor of a more collaborative approach. After a quiet offseason, expectations for New England are relatively low, though that was also the case in 2021 when the Patriots earned a surprise playoff berth (we don’t have to rehash their first-round loss to Buffalo, a humiliating 47-17 onslaught fans are still recovering from), led by first-year phenom Mac Jones at quarterback. The Pats return three Pro Bowlers from a season ago including Jones, special teams ace Matthew Slater and linebacker Matthew Judon.
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