The New England Patriots don’t have a defensive coordinator. And that has caused many to assume that coach Bill Belichick calls the plays on defense.
Not so, according to Belichick.
Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald explains that Belichick indicated that safeties coach Matt Patricia calls the plays, without directly announcing that Patricia calls the plays.
"[D]uring the game, I talk to all the play-callers — to Scott [O’Brien], to Billy [O’Brien], to Matt [Patricia] — and first of all, we go into the game with a plan of how we want to try to start things,” Belichick said.
Some may think that Belichick is trying simply to pass the buck for a bad defense in 2011. Think again.
“I’ll take responsibility for all the plays that are called,” Belichick said. “I have the final say on it. If I don’t want to run the play, I’ll call it off. That’s my right as a head coach. So, the bad ones, blame me for, because ultimately, I could change them if I want to.”
Some would say that he needs to change them more often. Or that maybe, if he’s changing them to plays that don’t work, he shouldn’t be changing them.