As the outside world remains fixated and frustrated with Bill Belichick's refusal to adhere to a sense of convention with his coaching staff, the longtime Patriots coach appears committed to proving that being normal is overrated.
When asked Monday morning on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" about not naming an offensive or defensive coordinator -- or revealing who would call offensive plays -- Belichick continued to assert that providing such titles "doesn't really make any difference to me," reiterating that the Patriots have frequently operated without them.
In fact, Belichick has almost gleefully toyed with the media's obsession over the offensive play-calling, referring to his decision-making on who would call plays a "process" he won't elaborate on even as he clearly puts the play sheet "offensive line coach"/"senior football advisor" Matt Patricia's hands.
In the end, though, the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach once again reminded everyone of the one title that matters on the coaching staff: his.
"Ultimately, I'm responsible for all of it. If you want to ask who's in charge, then it would be me," Belichick told WEEI. "I have the final say in everything. That's the way it's been, and I don't see that changing."
He did, however, added some context to a puzzling answer he gave during Friday's post-game press conference when asked if Patricia called all the offensive plays in that preseason contest with the Carolina Panthers.
“[Patricia did the] communication with the quarterback, yeah,” Belichick said of Patricia’s role. “As far as calling the plays, there’s a whole ‘nother process on that, but yeah.”
Belichick expanded on that Monday morning, saying that there's always collaboration happening between himself, position coaches, and play-callers -- including when Josh McDaniels and Bill O'Brien officially served as offensive coordinators in New England -- regarding what the offense, defense, or special teams should run in a given situation.
"Whether it's Nick [Caley], Vinnie [Sunseri], Ross [Douglas], Troy [Brown]…Joe [Judge], there are a number of ways to say, 'Hey, this next situation we could do this, they're playing us this way" or "Let's stay away from this or do more of that," he added. "The communication of the offensive and defensive staffs is critical to any process. And ultimately who calls the plays -- I'm not minimizing that, I'm not saying that -- but there's a process that goes to it.
A lot of times the play-caller makes calls based on the recommendations or the information he's received from other people on the staff. It's a collaborative effort."
On the surface, this would seem to indicate a "play-caller by committee" approach that could involve Belichick, Judge, and other coaches taking part in calling the offense.
But Belichick importantly noted Patricia was the only person who "communicated plays" to Mac Jones during last Friday's preseason game, which tracks with how the Patriots have done things in practice.
In short: don't get caught in the word salad. Matt Patricia is the de facto offensive coordinator. He is the voice in Jones' helmet relaying the calls. He's just not calling plays all by himself; he's getting feedback from the rest of the staff, including Belichick, during each series. Given that he's never done it before on the offensive side of the ball, that should be viewed as a positive.
That's the clearest explanation Belichick has given for this offensive "process" yet, and it all lines up with what he's shown us for the last few months. Perhaps the focus can now shift a bit more from who's calling the plays to who's executing them.
