Report: Patriots’ Bill Belichick Will Have New Role During 2019 Season

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will get another role in the upcoming season, and fans saw this coming.

According to sources, Belichick will be de facto defensive coordinator during the 2019 season.

Ben Volin of the Boston Globe said Belichick will probably call the defensive plays himself, noting that the team hasn’t hired a defensive coordinator. Brian Flores became the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, and Greg Schiano resigned a month ago.

“One role not mentioned — defensive coordinator,” Volin wrote. “The Patriots still don’t have one after Greg Schiano left abruptly in March after one month on the job. The buzz I am hearing from a league source is that Bill Belichick will simply call defensive plays himself this fall. This same source also told me Bielema would become defensive line coach, which I was going to write in this space before it was confirmed on Friday.

“Calling plays is not that much more responsibility for Belichick, who has always been involved with the defense, even when Matt Patricia and Brian Flores were the coordinator. Belichick usually coaches the defensive linemen during the game, and often told Patricia and Flores when to call blitzes.”

WEEI’s Ryan Hannable discussed the same issue. He wrote, “On Friday, the Patriots’ assistant coaches met with the media for the first time this offseason and there it was learned who will be coaching which positions in the upcoming season. The coaching staff saw a lot of turnover this offseason, but there was a lot of internal promotions meaning not many new faces. It’s worth noting there does not appear to be an official defensive coordinator. There wasn’t last year, although it was known Brian Flores was calling the plays.

“Bill Belichick isn’t big on titles, so this isn’t a huge deal, but it does make the question worth asking — who is calling the plays? The obvious answer would be Belichick, although it’s worth considering the last time he called the plays for the defense the team finished with only five wins (2000). Other options could be Bret Bielema (defensive line coach), or maybe even an outside the box option in Jerod Mayo (inside linebackers coach). It will likely take until perhaps the preseason to get an answer, but this could make for some good discussion until then. Belichick, who just turned 67 years old, has to be the favorite for the job, but it wouldn’t be a complete surprise if it were someone else.”

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