The 'Patriots Way'-ward

The plight of the 2020 New England Patriots is a lesson in life for all you young whipper snappers who were not alive for the real bad times between 1988-1993 or the slow bloodletting and imminent collapse of the team between 1997-2000. Believe it or not, many of us old heads once prayed for a 6-10 season as we looked at it as a symbol of hope. Many of the older fans are actually okay with the current state of the team because they understand that nothing lasts forever, whether it be friendships, marriages, jobs, vehicles or even the basic premise of predictability in one's life. All of the journalists that have had a hidden grudge against the management of the Patriots are now coming out of the woodwork and getting all of their 20+ years of built up hate off of their collective chests. However, they only give you half of the story and bend the truth to fit their narratives. The4 will not do that. For those who've only understood or saw the Patriots in a winning light and were disappointed in 11-5 and 10-6 seasons, as well as those fans that remember Jason Staurovsky, this is for you.

Every endeavor has a life cycle; what one does in order to stave off the inevitable requires humility, innovation and a willingness to change. Bill Belichick was able to do this to an extent during his time running the Patriots as the general manager and head coach, but the NFL is unforgiving. The dismantling of the team from within was instituted by the constant departures of free agents not willing to adapt to the Patriots' valuations of their talent and key coaching/administrative personnel that Belichick relied upon for intelligence and fresh perspectives. Over the years, that base has slowly eroded to the point that all he's got left is Josh McDaniels, a small group of loyalists, former players and his sons as trusted confidants. The talented quarterback coach that was brought in last year? He was just hired by the University of Arizona to be the head coach. In this scenario, Belichick is hard pressed to find any reasonable/reliable forms pushback or challenges to his authority and sadly, it is evident in the product on the field. It appears as if he is advised directly by those who he's taught his methods and approaches, which leads to no innovative thought. Many intelligent men have fallen into the trap of finding success within a court of people that agree with everything he says; however, fewer common men have had the foresight to see how this arrangement has little value in stabilizing an organization in the long-term. These men often court young, innovative minds and accept experienced individuals with divergent opinions into the circle of discussion in order to establish a well rounded think tank approach as to how the organization can move forward.

A subpar approach to the draft as well as not drawing a the proverbial line in the sand when as it concerned the future of the ONE quarterback besides Tom Brady (Jimmy Garrapolo) to develop under Belichick's stewardship are kill shots. These kinds of players are the ones that pave the road to the future and serve two distinct purposes: 1) they are cost-controlled apparatuses which allow a team to maintain continuity while also 2) permitting the team to take an unfettered approach to free agency with the ability to attain the services of difference makers on the field. Instead, Garrapolo was traded for peanuts which immediately resigned the Patriots to the will and intent of a 40+ year old player that in turn, gained all the leverage and used it like any reasonable individual with the privilege of using it would. Even though the team won two more Super Bowls, the organization was set on the course towards 2020 with that decision. combined with coaching/administrative departures and questionable draft practices that work when a team is stacked, but not when it's aging and expensive. The Patriots are right where any organization would be if they had not used adequate foresight. For those who appreciate and believe those two additional titles were worth it, it must be stated that there are ways to thread the needle of title contention while prioritizing tomorrow. Creativity and understanding oneself and the motivations of those that surround oneself is a great place to start.

As it stands, we are now looking at the late stage Tom Landry, Don Shula of these times. Belichick, like they did, has shown signs of a refusal to change and the game is threatening to pass him by as swiftly as it did Landry and Shula. They were blinded by past exploits and died on a hill of woebegone accomplishments and reliable, but outdated approaches. They never adjusted to the newer generation of players and staked their success to players that while reliable and loyal, lost the ability to remain competitive in an evolving and relatively young man's game. Older templates of how play offense or defense are often challenged; there are thousands of former players and coaches that spend years designing schemes, packages and plays for the sole purpose of exploiting them. Players get faster and more athletic; they get more opportunities to brand themselves and there is life changing money off the field is on the table. Being able to relate to these basic aspirations for high profile athletes is imperative to gaining their buy-in. They must be able to correlate the rise in their profile with the team's profile. Today's athletes more often than not, desire 'win-win' scenarios. The older methods of shaming players, calling them out and castigating them in full view of the public or their peers no longer serves as a primary motivation practice. If anything, it makes players feel trapped; it de-motivates many of them and leads to distractions that can hurt the team. It can be opined that Belichick has for years purposefully avoided this situation by drafting or searching for the undrafted and undervalued prospects, the 'diamonds in the rough' and the under the radar 'sleepers' which in many cases provides the team with those 'happy to be here' type of personalities that do not carry the high stakes pressure to establish themselves. The higher profile athletes require a little more work from the coaching staff and organization in order to achieve buy in. Yes, some overlooked talents such as a Julian Edelman, Malcolm Butler or JC Jackson rise to the occasion, but more often than not, those kinds of guys don't make it. One cannot consistently rely on 'hidden gems' to become the long term bedrocks of a team.

Belichick still has a chance to redeem this and extend his run. However, he must embrace change and take the kind of calculated risks that serve the team, which at the same time may make him feel uncomfortably out of his element. In such an arrangement, it may be required that he abdicate some, but not all, of his plenary authority and power. He will have to welcome outside talent that may have failed elsewhere but are are experienced, and others that are unknown, but have fresh ideas. These individuals are preferably not, or no longer on the radar for high profile jobs, which should afford Belichick a good 4-5 seasons to reset the table and leave the franchise in good shape Winning another Bowl is in some ways, less important than leaving the organization in better shape than he found it. His standards of excellence should remain, but the method of how to attain that excellence needs to be altered. In our life experiences, we have been a part of successful endeavors or have worked for failing or flailing ones; we all have opinions about how to maintain or improve levels of performance. As we age, we all tend to get more conservative in our approach. We often adhere to our habits which have worked in the past. Belichick is right there with the rest of us; just because he is well recognized individual, doesn't mean the same rules and principles don't apply to him. In order to extend our own 'buy-in' in order to seek additional pursuits, we must recognize that the terrain is always changing and accept that our normal manner of going about business must likewise change if we intend to survive until the next challenge.

The Patriots and Belichick relied on the 'tried and true' practices that brought success such as signing under the radar free agents that fit on his team or those hidden gems found in the draft. However, from a Patriot specific perspective, we all must be reminded that Belichick inherited elite personnel when he was hired in 2000 and built his team on a foundation of high round draft picks from a former regime and he surrounded it with those 'meat and potatoes' type guys that filled roles that supported the foundation. Add in a highly motivated, one to many times overlooked and prideful leader that dedicated himself to improvement at the most critical position, you have a winning formula. Although the simple act of updating that template brought more success over the years, people age. Egos grow. Aspirations can alter. The market shifts. Rules change. Once loyal confidants turn on you. The profile and aspirations of the newer generations of players have changed as well. The strategic avoidance of them only hurts the team; it is imperative that one changes with these elements in order to preserve continuity.

2020 was a very difficult year for the New England Patriots. Much of the behind the scenes practices and instruction were not able to be conducted. Rookies could not be immersed in the system. Established players opted out due to a pandemic. A new voice at the quarterback position, with an entirely different skill set than the man that held the position prior could not be integrated comfortably. It is what it is. It happens. It is not a death sentence, but a signal to the leadership that change must be afoot and if ignored, you will continue to see the results of this season. It is not the end of the world for Patriots fans because any team can bounce back with a measured approach and keen management practices; you don't have to fall to 1-15 in order to justify change. Just being on the way there should be enough. Bob Kraft, the owner of the Patriots saw it happening in 1999 and pulled the plug on then head coach, Pete Carroll. Belichick has earned the chance to right the ship. However, having insane money under the salary cap doesn't necessarily mean the team instantly becomes contenders and all is right under the sun.

If the established practices are not updated or altered, short- term winning will not solve a long-term problem and only serves to kick the can down the road which will result in a much worse than the 'sky is falling' 2020 edition of the Patriots. Re-capturing that winning tradition again, must be a product of eschewing the relevance of what has been done, what has worked in the past and instead, embracing the challenge of changing oneself, despite the discomfort, in the name of improvement as a human being and for the benefit of the organization.