The New England Patriots are currently holding joint practices in West Virginia together with the Houston Texans. Seeing them practice together is no surprise as the two teams are deeply connected ever since former Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien became the Texans’ head coach in 2014. One of the connections is assistant head coach Romeo Crennel, who joined Houston’s staff together with O’Brien.
Crennel, of course, has also been with the Patriots and helped the team win its first three Super Bowls; serving as defensive coordinator from 2001 through the 2004 season. The four years in New England were Crennel’s second stop working alongside Bill Belichick – and the Patriots head coach spoke about their time together during a press conference earlier today.
In the process of doing so, Belichick also took a hilarious swing at one of his former employers, the New York Jets (via Jeff Howe):
Belichick is running through his history with Crennel: "We worked with the Patriots together, then another team, then back to the Patriots."
Belichick served as the Jets’ defensive coordinator from 1997 until 1999 – a time when Crennel was the team’s defensive line coach. The subsequent end of the Belichick-Jets relationship is well known: After head coach Bill Parcells stepped down, Belichick was chosen as his successor. However, at his introductory press conference, he announced his resignation and later was traded to the Patriots for a first round draft pick.
Since then, Belichick has become the most successful head coach of the Super Bowl era – and has kept his disdain for the Jets organization alive.