Uncoordinated

Head coach Bill Belichick said he isn’t a believer in titles. He just expects people to do their jobs. Well he’s proving it this off-season with his coaching staff. The Patriots will go into 2010 without offensive or defensive coordinators.

Following the season, then-defensive coordinator Dean Pees decided not to resign with New England after his contract ran out. He joined Baltimore to be their linebackers coach. The Pats had no offensive coordinator last year.

Belichick did add former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Corwin Brown to the staff as a defensive backs coach. But the coaches will be all equals, answering only to Belichick. To compensate, Belichick will assume a larger role.

Maybe it’s a ploy to keep the rest of the league from poaching his coordinators as the Pats have lost five since the last Super Bowl win in 2004. But the league knows who are the up and coming minds. Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson was rumored to be a candidate for the New York Giants defensive coordinator job. And former linebacker Junior Seau believes linebackers coach Matt Patricia is head coach material down the road.

This isn’t what was expected to improve last year’s predictable coaching. A more hands-on Belichick does sound appealing, but might he spread himself too thin? He was already watching over quarterback coach Bill O’Brien’s shoulder last year as O’Brien apprenticed to be an offensive coordinator. It’s hard to believe that Belichick can mentor on both sides of the ball simultaneously.

Maybe O’Brien earned Belichick’s trust and will get more authority this year. As for the defense, it was rumored Patricia and Johnson were the favorites to be promoted. Instead Belichick assimilates the D-coordinator role and everyone answers to him.

Not promoting anyone to coordinator is a curious decision considering one of Belichick’s gripes was a lack of questioning of his authority. Without coordinators, do the coaches feel empowered enough to stand up and disagree with Belichick? Brown and Johnson used to play for Belichick while Patricia was given his first pro job by Belichick. They will have to challenge Belichick at some point. The question is will they?

This also raises the question of whether Johnson or Patricia are ready to be coordinators. Under this alignment, Belichick can closely mentor them for future opportunities as coordinators either with the team or elsewhere (except the New York Jets, of course).

The hierarchy is similar to how Dallas’ coaching staff is organized with head coach Wade Phillips calling the defense. To his credit, the defense performed better under Phillips’ direction. We’ll see if the defense gets better under Belichick’s command. All Belichick has to do is do his jobs.