Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been even less forthcoming than usual this offseason about which of his assistant coaches will have which responsibilities, but Matt Patricia revealed today that he’s working with the offensive line.
Patricia, who was the Patriots’ defensive coordinator before becoming the Lions’ head coach, now has the title of senior football advisor. But it was revealed earlier this offseason that Patricia was coaching the offense, not the defense, and today Patricia said he’s working with the offensive line, a position he hasn’t coached since 2005.
“I’ve been out there with the offensive guys, working with the offensive line,” Patricia said, via Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal. “It’s been fun to get back to that and get back to my roots.”
Patricia said he has Dante Scarnecchia, the Patriots’ longtime offensive line guru. on speed dial, and that any time he has contact with Scarnecchia he feels like it’s making him a better coach.
“I don’t like to bother him,” Patricia said of Scarnecchia, “but there’s a lot of roots there and I appreciate him. It’s been fun.”
The Patriots don’t have anyone with the title of offensive line coach, but they do have an assistant offensive line coach in Billy Yates. It appears that Patricia and Yates will be primarily responsible for coaching the offensive line this season.