The New England Patriots clearly did not meet expectations the past two seasons, and one former player thinks that head coach Bill Belichick is the primary reason for those struggles, stemming from his assistant coaching hires and his desire for control.
During a recent interview on The Athletic Football Show, former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris called out Bill Belichick for his decision to bring in Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Harris went as far as to call the coaching staff “a debacle.”
“What happened to Mac Jones in New England was not because of Mac Jones,” Harris said according to Boston.com. “What happened in New England to Mac Jones was because of the fact you took away an offensive coordinator who coached him to be a Pro Bowler and almost coached us to winning our division with a rookie quarterback in his first year.
“And then you take — whenever Josh McDaniels left — Matt Patricia, who has coached defenses his entire life, and Joe Judge, who has been a special teams coach, coached receivers at some point. And then you just throw them in there and be like, ‘Hey, coach this kid up. He’s a first-round pick, but as long as you teach him what I say, everything will be fine,’ and [stuff] wasn’t fine.”
Harris thinks that Belichick’s desire to have full control over the team was ultimately the team’s downfall.
“He needs full-on control. That’s just the kind of guy Bill Belichick is,” said Harris. “But at the same time, can you blame him? Because in the 20 years where he had full control, he had a lot of success. So you can’t blame him.”
Obviously, these are some strong words, and they led to a lot of reactions on social media.
This is not a secret – BB and his staff did the complete opposite of what you should do to support and nurture a rookie a QB… not saying Jones will flourish in the league, but they certainly stunted his development
— Hugh Janus (@hughjanus978) June 8, 2024
I 100% agree.
Right after Trevor Lawrence, Mac Jones was the best QB available in the draft at that time. I don't even have to be a Patriots fan to tell you all that.— TIGERSPORTS (@TIGERSP73051947) June 8, 2024
I didn't play for the Patriots and I could have told you that
— Darryn Witzgall (@darryn_witzgall) June 8, 2024
100% agree
— Brian Sullivan (@bsbigtime) June 8, 2024
Yup. It started by drafting him so early and I still can't believe Matt Patricia is in the league coaching. He's one of the biggest frauds out there.
— Ron.E.Niner (@RonENiner) June 8, 2024
Yup. When a player leaves Boston and then is dancing in Jacksonville (Jacksonville?!?) you know things were bad on the Patriots.
— LA Rams Fan Zone (@LARamsFanZone) June 9, 2024
Regardless of whether or not his actions were justifiable, Harris clearly thinks that Belichick is to blame for the team’s collapse.
