Not using offensive and defensive coordinators is nothing new for Bill Belichick’s Patriots

The New England Patriots announced their official coaching staff for the 2022 season last week, and arguably the biggest talking point was the absence of coordinators on both offense and defense. While that seems like a worrisome development, especially on an offensive side of the ball that was run by Josh McDaniels for several years, that practice is actually nothing new under head coach Bill Belichick.

A look at the coaching staffs during his tenure atop the organization shows that one or both sides of the ball missing coordinators has happened before:

As can be seen, the Patriots were operating without at least one coordinator in 10 of Belichick’s 23 campaigns up until this year. While the absence of that role on offense was comparatively rare through the years — 2022 will only be the fourth such season — it had been missing quite frequently on defense, including five years running now.

Of course, we can also see that New England went without offensive or defensive coordinators entirely at one point before: back in 2010, with Dean Pees having left and Bill O’Brien not yet elevated to the coordinator role, Belichick decided against naming any for the first time since his arrival.

The arrangement worked out quite well; the Patriots ended the season at 14-2 and fielded the number one scoring offense in football as well as the number eight scoring defense. Sure, having the likes of Tom Brady under center helped tremendously, but what 2010 also shows is that the structural foundation Belichick built over the years can withstand even the lack of any clear leading coaches on offense or defense.

Obviously, 2010 is an eternity ago given the NFL’s nature as a “not for long” league. The 2022 Patriots have little in common with those from a decade back.

Nonetheless, the aforementioned foundation remains in place — as do some experienced assistant coaches all over the staff. Belichick has trust in them, and with him overseeing the operation it should still be working fine from that perspective. As long as he is in place, missing official coordinators should probably be fairly low on the list of things to worry about heading into the new season.