Bill Belichick doesn’t like a lot of cooks in his kitchen.
The New England Patriots head coach prefers a smaller coaching staff than most other NFL teams use, NBC Sports’ Peter King wrote Monday in his “Football Morning in America” column.
The Patriots’ website currently lists 10 coaches on Belichick’s staff, and King expects them to add at least six more ahead of the 2019 NFL season.
While the Patriots might surpass the 15 coaches they used last season, their number won’t go near the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ record 29-person staff.
Here’s more from King:
It’s interesting to note that Bill Belichick, and one of his mentors, Bill Parcells, have always been opposed to huge staffs. They believe, in part, that the more coaches you have, the more your message can get misinterpreted. And they believe, also, that it’s good to have players play without constantly being coached and instructed — to see if they’re getting the message without being told too much, too often.
That makes perfect sense.
The Patriots began their offseason program Monday with a host of potential openings on Belichick’s staff. Five assistants from last year’s group — linebackers coach/de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores, wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea, cornerbacks coach Josh Boyer, defensive line coach Brendan Daly and assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski — joined other teams following the Patriots’ Super Bowl LIII win. Jerod Mayo, Mick Lombardi, Carmen Bricillo and potentially Bob Fraser all are expected to be hired in the coming weeks and months, according to various reports.
Belichick still must identify and recruit a defensive coordinator to replace Greg Schiano, who abruptly resigned last month.
Beyond the aforementioned names, we probably shouldn’t expect many more new faces to assume roles on Belichick’s staff this season.
