Dan Koppen was Tom Brady's center for nine season. So it's fair to say the former Patriot has a pretty good read on the guy who took snaps from him from 2003-11.
So when Koppen told OMF Monday afternoon that Brady's departure from the Patriots wasn't what he was expecting, it should be noted.
"It did," Koppen told Glenn Ordway, Christian Fauria and Lou Merloni when asked if Brady's decision to sign with Tampa Bay caught him off guard. "It definitely did surprise me early on. A goal for a lot of guys is to spend my entire career in one organization. I guess when you play that long that goal probably gets harder and harder. And when you have a coach that is that demanding, not that is a bad thing, but you play for the guy for 20 years that can take a toll."
Koppen offered a reminder of how Bill Belichick has been able to evolve his offense over the years, a reality that might be around the corner now that appears Jarrett Stidham is in line to become the Patriots' primary quarterback.
"It’s unchartered waters. If there is one guy who can do it, it’s definitely Bill. What you saw him do in the Draft … I think he is going to do it through defense and special teams," Koppen noted. "To not draft a quarterback tells you he likes Stidham. We did a lot of different offenses. We went from a ground and pound, ball-possession-type team, winning the 9-3 games. We won those 31-29-point games, as well. Maybe they’re going to go back to what we were in ’01, ’03 and ’04 when we were more ball possession and we’re going to win it on defense until we see what this kid has got."
Before the interview was over, Koppen did want to make it clear he had put his hat in the ring to participate in the charity golf tournament between Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning and Phil Mickelson/Brady. (The center finished his career as Manning's center in Denver.)
"I do want to be the caddy," he said.