Patriots’ Patricia the answer for the Giants

We finally figured out why Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia stuffs that No. 2 pencil behind his right ear.

It’s so he can write down the destination of every NFL city where he is rumored to become head coach. So he can trace long hand every long-winded and ultra-nuanced theory involving the demise of the Robert KraftBill Belichick-Tom Brady relationship.

So he can jot down Alex Guerrero’s phone number to order up a case of coconut oil and gain so much muscle pliability that he’ll be able to build a rocket while hanging upside down.

So Patricia, that noted graduate in aeronautical engineering from RPI, can then turn his No. 2 pencil upside down and erase the erroneous assertions about the Patriots, the hyperbolic predictions of immediate doom, and leave us with the remaining truths.

And what is that full truth? Where does the full truth about the eroding relationship among the three pillars of Foxborough lie? What is the whole truth about Kraft’s role, if any, in getting Belichick to trade Jimmy Garoppolo to the 49ers for less than he could have gotten from other teams? What is the whole truth about how badly Belichick’s relationship with Brady has been damaged by the quarterback’s almost blind loyalty to Guerrero, his business partner and body pliability guru?

Nobody has been able to document all of it for certain. That hasn’t stopped most everybody from trying. Does this mean Seth Wickersham’s anonymously sourced ESPN.com opus was riddled with glaring inaccuracies or that he purposely tried to undermine the Patriots? Of course not. Conversely, does this mean there aren’t different versions of the truth? And that some of the media pushback, especially against the narrative that this may well be the last year the three are together, is wrong? Of course not.

We’re just saying the Patriots are the most delicious red meat of sports franchises. Everybody wants to be there when the dynasty finally ends. Everybody

wants a bite of that story.

Look at what Wickersham’s story of Patriot tension did. It led to immediate speculation that Belichick could be the next coach of the Giants. Is it going to happen? Nah. But for a runaway train moment there, it seemed possible. At this point, if we wrote strands of Patricia’s beard were used to deflate footballs for Brady, somebody would pick it up as fact.

And that’s why, as a Connecticut columnist, as the man in the Land Of Steady Habits, I hope I am permitted to say this: It’s best if a steadier, less speculative, path is chosen in the coming weeks. Granted, it’s not nearly as fun. It would make for a stunning narrative if Kraft, notoriously hands off for years, suddenly did force Belichick to trade Garoppolo. It would make for even greater theater if Belichick, apoplectic over Guerrero, stormed out of Gillette Stadium and returned to work for the Giants.

Only the truth is that Belichick is going to coach the Patriots in 2018.

You know it. I know it. Even the deepest conspiracy buffs know it.

The end will come one day. The 40-year-old Brady, who has spit in the face of Father Time, will one day feel Father Time spit back. There will be a day when even Belichick will grow weary of his relentlessly demanding ways. Even the greatest franchise in modern sport cannot devise a perfect game plan to stop the pages of the calendar from turning. Still, it’s impossible to believe that some in-house bickering will bring two decades crashing down in the next two weeks. The end will come one day, just not today.

So as the Patriots march to another Super Bowl and the stories of the march to their demise continue, let’s have the No. 2 pencil at the ready to best document the truth and erase the false.

In the meantime, give Matt Patricia an ink pen to put behind his right ear so he can sign a contract to be the next coach of the Giants.

Just as the Patriots are the middle of all NFL dominance, Patricia is the fulcrum of NFL coaching jobs.

Although one report says Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is still in the mix, the Giants’ search is said to be down to Patricia, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels and Vikings offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur. All three are in the playoffs. None can be hired until their team is eliminated. That can complicate matters.

Patricia is considered the favorite by many. He should be. He must be. Trying to recapture the past by re-hiring old favorites as general manager or coach usually ends in disaster. Yet using the successful past as a blueprint can be a wise thing. One needn’t be a rocket scientist — as Patricia has the educational chops to be — to portray Dave Gettleman as George Young. At 66, the new Giants general manager has those grizzled, experienced ways that scream toughness and common sense. Like George Young. Hey, maybe some of it came from the master’s degree Gettleman got at Southern Connecticut in 1978.

By extension, it isn’t difficult to portray Patricia as the next Belichick or Bill Parcells under the new George Young. Smart, tough, reliable, capable of putting together stifling defensive game plans, Patricia stands in defiance of the mediocre results that most from the Belichick coaching tree have produced. He is one guy, for me, who can deal with Odell Beckham Jr., while taking the talented pieces on defense and molding that into something fierce and intimidating. After the vacuum of discipline, leadership and personality under Ben McAdoo, that’s vital.

Lions general manager Bob Quinn, who started out as an equipment graduate assistant for Randy Edsall at UConn and worked his way up through years with the Patriots, knows this better than anyone. That’s why Patricia is at the top of Detroit’s list, too.

One can easily argue Patricia’s path could be smoother with the Lions. They’ve had consecutive 9-7 seasons, making the playoffs in 2016. Quinn has great familiarity with Patricia. The Lions have a settled a situation with quarterback Matthew Stafford and offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter. You also get the feeling this Lions group can win, but not win it all.

The Giants’ 3-13 season, complete with the disastrous handling of Eli Manning, hangs over their franchise. Gettleman must clean this up, ASAP. Yet, consider the possibilities for Patricia. A kid from Upstate New York, already with a pedigree of Super Bowl titles, moves to the biggest stage, to a storied franchise, and turns that into a decade of winning? That’s legendary stuff.

If Patricia doesn’t go to the Lions, former Patriots linebacker and current Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel is seen as a favorite. There are openings at Arizona and Indianapolis. McDaniels and Vrabel are seen as finalists with the Colts. Questions. Conspiracies. More questions.

The split state of Connecticut football awaits the truth.