Job suits Patricia to a tee
Shirt not an HC deal breaker
Ask me about Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, and I’ll tell you about the three images in my head.
Image No. 1 — The Patriots having just completed a 3428 overtime victory against the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI, Patricia is seated at one of those postgame interview booths that look a little like oversized Kool-Aid stands. For a man whose second-half tweaks had all but smothered the Falcons as the Pats mounted one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, Patricia seems so relaxed in his postgame discourse that you’d think he’s talking about a brake job. He uses the term “stayed the course” about a hundred times.
Image No. 2 — The Patriots’ charter flight from Houston lands at Logan Airport and jubilant players, coaches and assorted club employees are disembarking. Patricia pops into view sporting an official Barstool Sports Roger Goodell clown-nose T-shirt. The teal is real, and the red in Goodell’s nose is so bright that the pilots could have waved it from the cockpit had the aircraft encountered heavy fog on its approach into Logan.
Image No.3 — It is mid-November, and about 60 Vietnam veterans are invited by the New England Patriots Foundation to take part in a ceremony at a Gillette Stadium function room. As an added touch, various Patriots players and coaches are on hand to present commemorative lapel pins. More than merely shaking hands and posing for photos, Patricia seems absolutely transfixed by the event as he engages the vets — asking questions, listening to stories. (It wasn’t just me. “He responded to a general request to players and coaches,” said Josh Kraft, president of the Patriots Foundation. “But what he did really shows his commitment to community and a commitment to those who risked their lives.”)
Now that Patricia is being interviewed for head coaching vacancies, it’s worth revisiting some of those images to see what role, if any, they will play in his chances of becoming a member of the NFL’s Gang of 32.
I think we can agree that Image No. 3 will play no role in the hiring process. Whatever your own feelings about our country’s involvement in Vietnam, the military men and women who were sent there are to be treated with respect and dignity. Patricia understands this, but it’s not a step toward being an NFL head coach.
Image No. 1, of course, is why NFL executives are being air-dropped into blizzard-raged New England this week. They want to talk to the man who kept his cool in the Super Bowl, the man who “stayed the course” — except he didn’t actually do that, what with all the second-half blitzes on Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. Plus, the number of on-the-fly defensive changes the Patriots have had to make this season is dizzying. Rather than sitting around trying to figure out how the Patriots do that, teams should be looking to hire the guy who did that.
Which brings us to Image No.2: Matt Patricia strutting down the stairs in his spiffy commish-mocking tee.
The shirts created a ton of buzz. And when one considers Goodell’s overreaction to under-inflated footballs, they were in no way inappropriate.
Not inappropriate when worn by fans, that is.
But by a National Football League defensive coordinator with aspirations to be a head coach?
We keep hearing how bright Patricia is. He has a degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, which means we can call him a rocket scientist and get away with it.
How, then, could he be so dumb? In the aftermath of Deflategate, when so many Patriot Folk were ladling out diplomatic niceties, here was Matt Patricia looking like Chris Farley in “Tommy Boy.” It was the sports equivalent of Michael Dukakis riding in the tank. It was the Red Sox signing Pablo Sandoval.
It was . . . ill-advised. Goodell, we’ve read, was “miffed” by what Patricia did.
But should it prevent Patricia from being hired as a head coach? Any football exec would have to be an absolute chicken — or idiot — to go down that road.
If we’ve learned anything from the NFL over the years, it’s that NFL teams will employ just about anyone if it’ll fill a need and make the team better. Spousal abuse? Counseling! OUI? Rehab! Steroids? He served his suspension!
And, what, Matt Patricia is going to lose out on a head coaching job because of a goofy T-shirt?
It really comes down to one thing: During the interview process, when Patricia is asked (inevitably) about the shirt, does he have a clever, responsible answer? I’m guessing he does.
And upon further review, it doesn’t hurt that a guy who works 90 hours a week can find a couple of additional hours to honor Vietnam vets.