Matt Patricia’s fight as head coach of the Detroit Lions was a debate, but his former team gladly gave him another chance to reinvent himself and get his career back on track. The New England Patriots brought him in after being sacked by the Lions, and it seems he has taken an active role behind the scenes since returning.
Head coach and general manager Bill Belichick, who held his annual press conference before the draft on Thursday, spoke about Patricia’s part in the exploration process. Apparently, the former Patriots defense coordinator played a big role in that.
“Matt rejoined us and was very involved in the process,” Belichick said.
What exactly Patricia’s new concert with the Patriots entails is not public knowledge, but he has given many instructions so far. The 46-year-old man was brought in to help the coaching staff, but was also involved in free negotiations and contract negotiations and sometimes even signed on behalf of the team.
Patricia’s, however, was just one of the names mentioned during Belichick’s press conference. He also spoke about three members of the reconnaissance division who have been acting heavily over the past few weeks and months.
“Dave Ziegler, Eliot Wolf and Matt Groh really carried the ball over this. They have done a lot of work and their staff is also supervised. In particular, the three guys did a lot of work, evaluation, organization and they did a good job of putting things together. It was great to spend a lot of time with them and go through the process, ”said Belichick.
As the Patriots were forced to restructure their front office after the departure of Nick Caserio to the Houston Texans, it appears that the three men named Belichick took on different roles compared to previous years. Ziegler is the frontrunner in replacing Caserio as director of player staff, while Wolf and Groh – who worked as a reconnaissance consultant and national explorer last year – are also candidates for promotions.
All three of them were also seen on the reconnaissance route. Ziegler and Groh were at Pro Day in Ohio earlier this week; Wolf watched the first training session of Buckeyes as well as BYUs; Groh was also seen in the state of North Dakota.
What all of these events have in common is that they feature some of the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft: Justin Fields (Ohio State), Zach Wilson (BYU) and Trey Lance (North Dakota State).
‘The draft process this year was a little different than last year. This year we did not have the Indianapolis combination, but did have a few events at Pro Days, which made it a little different, but in the end we gathered a lot of information, ‘Belichick said of the work of New England’s exploration. department has done so far.
“We will try to be as well prepared as we can after the draft weekend and then see what our opportunities are and do our best to improve the team as always, the same goal as every year.”
To achieve this goal, Belichick and the Patriots relied heavily on Ziegler, Wolf and Groh – and so did Matt Patricia.