Weis: Losing ‘Scar’ a ‘blow’
Former Pats assistant says replacing Scarnecchia won’t be easy
MIAMI — There’s a category for coaches like Dante Scarnecchia. It falls under the heading of one word: irreplaceable.
He’s a one-of-a-kind treasure. And now that he’s retired, the Patriots are in a tough spot trying to find an offensive line coach that measures up to his standard, or comes reasonably close.
They need to find a suitable replacement, because an offensive line is so vital to the success of the team.
Listening to former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weis, who has been doing daily broadcasts on radio row for SiriusXM NFL radio, he believes it will be tough for anyone to follow Scarnecchia; a stalwart in the Patriots organization over 40 years, with the past 20 seasons at the helm of the O-line. The way Weis sees it, good luck to whoever comes in after the legend.
“Dante went from a relative indiscriminate role when (Bill) Parcells first got there, to proving himself to be one of the best assistant coaches I’ve ever seen,” Weis told the Herald Wednesday. “He was a great teacher, he was on his guys hard.
“He was passionate about their performance. He slacked off of no one. He developed the young guys. He was a one-stop shop. With him walking away from the game at this point, I’m sure they’ll find a quality offensive line guy, but that’s a big blow.”
The tributes on social media from players has been endless. Scarnecchia was certainly tough, but the players respected him for his tough love.
There’s a couple of possible in-house replacements, be it Carmen Bricillo who worked closely with Scarnecchia this past season, or Cole Popivich, the assistant running backs coach. Bricillo has a background coaching the offensive line when he was at Youngstown State.
Whatever the Patriots’ plan, it’s enormous shoes to fill no matter who gets the job.
“When you lost me, you had Josh (McDaniels) there. When they lost Josh, they had Billy O’Brien there. Then when you lost Billy, Josh came back. But to lose a guy like Dante, the offensive line was his own little world,” said Weis. “That doesn’t mean you can’t win with somebody else. But Dante was truly special.”
The Patriots did win a Super Bowl after Scarnecchia
retired the first time. Dave Deguglielmo was brought in from the outside. With the personnel inhouse, the O-line functioned pretty well that initial year after Scar. But then it went completely south the following year. Deguglielmo was let go, and Scarnecchia came out of retirement.
Given it’s the Patriots, Weis gives the team the benefit of the doubt in terms of the next guy up after Scarnecchia. They’ll find a way to get by.
“Isn’t it funny though, how every time there’s a crisis, they seem to figure it out?” said Weis. “I don’t know who that person is going to be. I feel with pretty good confidence they’ll figure it out, but that’s a big loss. It really is. Losing a coordinator when you have a coordinator waiting in the wings is one thing. But losing that position, the offensive line coach, that’s significant. It’ll be interesting.”
While position coaches don’t usually get considered for the Professional Football Hall of Fame, Weis thinks a campaign is in order for Scarnecchia to be the first assistant coach/offensive line guru, to get a gold jacket. Because then, the outside world would learn what everyone in Foxboro has known for 40 years.
“If there is an assistant coach to get in, he’d be not only a good one, but the right one to start,” said Weis. “And he’d have my support and my blessing I promise you.”