Few people from the Patriots dynasty of the last 20 years are more revered than Dante Scarnecchia.
The legendary offensive line coach and former assistant head coach was a key, trusted member of Bill Belichick's New England coaching staff from 2000-14 and again when he was lured out of retirement to return to his duties from 2016-19.
The man known as Scar actually predated Belichick's arrival by decades and save for a short stint with the Colts was a career Patriot.
He was a true insider, on staff for 10 of New England's 11 trips to the Super Bowl and five of the six titles.
This year, he watched the Patriots relative struggles from his home a Hail Mary throw from Gillette Stadium. But Scarnecchia has plenty of faith that New England's absence from the NFL's postseason that kicks off Saturday afternoon with Super Wild Card Weekend will be short-lived.
"I think so," Scarnecchia said recently. "You have an owner that's driven. He has an amazing way about doing things. Does he know what's going on? Yes, he knows what's going on. And I think he, if necessary he will ask the questions and wonder about things. That's my opinion. I don't know that. I've never seen that conversation between those two, but you have strong ownership and you have an organization that really wants to be successful. Will it get back? Yeah, absolutely it will get back. But, obviously, they have to get some things worked out at certain positions and try to develop a good team.
So the stars have to come into alignment to a degree in a lot of areas. Yeah, my hope and all our wishes are our team comes back to a very, very high level."
Having enjoyed decades of success working for Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, it's probably not surprising the faith that Scarnecchia has in his former bosses. But that doesn't mean he thinks it will necessarily be easy for New England to get back to the postseason or consistent winning ways that had been the norm in Foxborough since 2001.
"I never try to say that that was something special, that it will never be achieved again," Scarnecchia said of the dynasty built through the work of Kraft, Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. "The world of sports and the world in general is rift with people that thought that and all of the sudden it does happen. I think it's very hard to do because of all the aforementioned reasons. Those being you better know what you're doing on the salary cap, you better have sustained great health at that one great position, at quarterback
"We've all seen, and I'm not stabbing at anybody here, how hard it was without Tom this year. And really in fairness to Cam [Newton], how hard it is to come in with no preseason, no OTAs, none of that stuff and then have to come out there and try to do your best. It aint' easy. That's a hard position to play. The hardest position in all of sports. The hardest thing in all of sports to do is be an NFL quarterback, I think. And they are hard to come by."
Click here for more of Scarnecchia's thoughts on the success the Patriots enjoyed from 2001-19, even as the team and its fans suffer through an extremely rare playoff-free winter in New England.
