In Round 1 of the NFL Draft, the Patriots selected Alabama quarterback Mac Jones with the No. 15 overall pick.
Because of this, SEC Network host and ESPN college football analyst Paul Finebaum was asked about the player during an appearance on the Keyshawn, JWill and Zubin Show Friday morning.
Finebaum took this as an opportunity to go off on Bill Belichick, including calling him "lazy" in recent years.
“I am also rather concerned about this rather lazy, ‘Well, Bill Belichick knows what he’s doing.’ Really? Have you guys watched the New England Patriots in the last couple of years? Tom Brady knows what he’s doing. I am not sure Bill Belichick does," he said. "He’s made some dubious coaching hires, starting with his son. And I think he’s made some disastrous draft choices.
“I like Mac Jones a lot, I know I am burying the lead here. I think he is a very good quarterback. Will he be a great NFL quarterback? I have no earthly idea. But don’t confuse the fact that just because Bill Belichick drafts you, and he’s never drafted a quarterback (in the first round) before — big deal. Why did he need to draft a quarterback in the first round before that Mac Jones is automatically going to be the next Peyton Manning.”
Finebaum added: “I am more concerned about Bill Belichick’s future in New England than I am concerned about Mac Jones’ future in New England. I see a coach who was a perfectionist, who did everything right all those years who was untouchable and I see him getting lazy late in his career. I see him making moves that don’t remind me of Bill Belichick. Everyone wants to compare Bill Belichick and Nick Saban. Nick Saban has never changed — money, the championships, he’s still the same guy he was 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 20 years ago. Bill Belichick’s not.”
Later in the day, he appeared on The Max Kellerman Show and said pretty much the same thing.
“Bill Belichick is not the same coach today that he was back then because he doesn’t have the best player of all time," Finebaum said. "And as I said about the takes, I think Bill has gotten a little bit lazy — not in terms of working, but in terms of cutting corners. He’s got a son on the staff for the last couple of years. Could his son get a job anywhere else? No. He’s got a defensive coordinator right now that I don’t think is up to NFL standards, and that is what I am talking about. I am not saying he should ride off into the sunset and Bob Kraft should throw him out the window. I was just making an observation about the media just automatically assuming that just because Bill Belichick does something, it’s right. If Bill Belichick had been doing what he had been doing previously he wouldn’t have been in the middle of the draft. He would have been at the end of the draft like normal.”
Sounds like Finebaum isn't a fan of the Patriots coach and this had been sitting with him for awhile.