New England Patriots Hire New Defensive Coordinator

The New England Patriots have already focused on the next campaign and they have signed a new defensive coordinator.

Brian Flores went to Miami, and the Patriots sealed the deal with former Ohio State defensive coordinator Greg Schiano.

Schiano was the defensive play-caller and associate head coach for the Buckeyes. He left the position in order to pursue opportunities in the NFL. Schiano was the head coach of the Rutgers, and he made many Patriots connections there. He was the coach of Devin and Jason McCourty, Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan and Kenny Britt. Schianno even coached Belichick’s son and Patriots safeties coach Steve Belichick.

Bill Belichick approves the defensive coach

“I think Greg’s a tremendous coach,” Belichick said of Schiano in 2017. “I’ve learned an awful lot from him and had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with him when he was at Rutgers and Stephen [Belichick] was at Rutgers and I’d go down there. The lacrosse and the football programs are in the same building. Then at Tampa and the couple of years after Tampa was really even better for, I would say, my relationship with him because he had those last two years in the NFL and I’ve learned an awful lot from him. He’s given me a lot of – we talk about things that they did in their program, that he did in Tampa, that really had a lot of relevance to what we do. So did Rutgers, but it’s a little bit different in the NFL. He’s done a great job at Ohio State.

“He’s one of the very best coaches I think in our profession. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Greg and the way he runs his program and the job that he does. I would say the most impressive thing for me is the way that our players, which we’ve had a lot of Rutgers players come through here, the loyalty and the I would say love of the program, the college program that they were in at Rutgers when he was there, how they maintained that for years and years after they had left. Not taking anything away from any other school, but I would just say that it’s extremely strong. I think the relationship that he has with his kids, with his players and how well prepared his players are to come into this league is exceptional.”