Turning The Page

The solstice was ten days ago. Spring is months away. The calendar itself is an arbitrary and imperfect schedule defined thousands of years ago by people who thought the sun revolved around the earth. Despite all of this, there's still something special about the start of a New Year. The slate has been cleaned. Resolutions are made that are all basically about making a fresh start. I'm going to lose weight. I'm going to exercise and get in the best shape of my life. I'm going to live in the moment. I'm going to fire the people I told everyone a year or two or three ago was going to bring their football team to the Super Bowl. My bad. Moving on.

So, the only thing Patriots Nation has had to worry about for the last sixteen years is whether or not the team's offensive and defensive coordinators would be leaving to take a head coaching opportunity. Not so much the other franchises in the AFC East. Or the rest of the NFL for that matter. It's a conundrum. Clearly, consistency is necessary to build a program - to shed bad contracts, to identify free agents who fit from both a talent and culture perspective, to make smart draft picks - but how long can ownership wait for a winning season and a spot in the playoffs?

As they say, NFL stands for "Not For Long."

It's being reported that Broncos HC Gary Kubiak will retire after today's game due to health concerns. Winning a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning's corpse at QB deserves our respect  but let's not forget that Kubiak somehow made the Houston Texans into a perennial playoff participant despite having Matt Schaub as his starting quarterback. Being selfish here for a moment, I expect the Broncos to sell out for their coach later this afternoon and knock the Raiders out of the #2 seed in the playoffs.

Rumor has it the 49ers will be parting ways with both GM Trent Baalke and HC Chip Kelly. Apparently, ownership couldn't figure out if it was a lack of talent or a lack of coaching that led to their dismal 2-13-0 record in 2016. Or perhaps they realized it was both. Former Pats exec Scott Pioli is being mentioned as the next GM and current Pats OC Josh McDaniels is being mentioned for the head coaching gig. 49ers fans are probably wondering when they can buy their new Garoppolo jerseys.

Will they or won't they? While I hate to give any advice to any of the Patriots many rivals, it sounds like Colts owner Jim Irsay may have finally come to his senses. GM Ryan Grigson and HC Chuck Pagano have been doing everything in their powers to waste the considerable talents of QB Andrew Luck, who seems destined to win his only Super Bowl late in his career for another team if things don't change. As a Pats fan, I have to hope Irsay stays the course.

It's hard to know for sure just how deep the post-Deflategate feelings run a 1 Patriots Place (Grand Canyon deep? Laurentian Abyssal deep?) but a Nick Caserio/Matt Patricia pairing for GM/HC would be at the top of my wish list if I owned the Colts. I have to hope that doesn't happen. Fuck the Colts. Seriously. Fuck. The. Colts. I simply cannot leave be any more definitive on this point. I know other owners backed Goodell on Deflategate but it was the Colts who started our long pigskin nightmare. So. Fuck those guys.

Quick Aside on Caserio: In recent posts, I've noted the belief that the key to the Patriots success on the field has been organizational; managing the cap, building a team rather than acquiring talent, recognizing and moving on from mistakes quickly, paying attention to the locker room culture. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss - an essential, daily read - does his usual excellent job in detailing the impact of former members of New England's front office on their new teams. This is as much a note of caution for Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia as it is for those teams looking for a new head coach. Both men have to consider the state of their future employer's front office in choosing whether and where to take that next step in their careers.

It sounds like the Jets will be keeping GM Mike Maccagnan and HC Todd Bowles. That only makes sense if they blow up the roster. It appears to me Bowles has lost the Jets locker room. To paraphrase Shakespeare; first kill all the locker room lawyers. Then cut anyone that's left who's 30-years old or older. Then trade up in the draft to take Clemson's Deshaun Watson, who looks tragically like the next Robert Griffin III. Never change, Jets.

Of course, there are already openings in Los Angeles, Buffalo and Jacksonville. It sounds like Mike McCoy won't be saving his job with a win over Kansas City today.

It's a tough gig, clearly, but know this gentlemen; your personal tragedy has just given hope to hundreds of thousands of football fans and that's what you were trying to do all along, wasn't it? Most of you will land on your feet. It's a sport that loves second chances. Look no further than Foxborough.