Greg Bedard: DeGuglielmo is unpopular with players, part of the reason Mankins would not take pay cut
If you have tuned into the Felger and Mazz program consistently this week, your eardrums may have been pierced by the screeching of Mazz on a variety of Patriots related subjects, mostly the complete ineptitude of the offensive line thus far this season.
There is no denying the line has been awful, leading fingers pointing in multiple directions: Jordan Devey, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. Today, MMQB writer Greg Bedard, who now appears on the Felger and Mazz show weekly, stated that he has heard the new coach may not be meshing well with his group of linemen. Here is what Bedard had to say when Felger asked him if it was fair to criticize the new coach (From CSNNE.com):
This comes on the heels of what was not exactly a glowing endorsement of the new coach from injured center Ryan Wendell, who said DeGuglielmo "has his own flavor."
The coach, a native of Cambridge who played college football at BU, does not exactly have a stellar resume. He had some excellent years with the Giants working under Tom Coughlin, after which he spent time as the line coach in Miami. In 2012, he was hired as the line coach for the Jets, but was fired after one season. He then found himself out of football for a year and spent the 2013 season as a sports radio analyst.
Prior to being hired by the Patriots before this season, DeGuglielmo had an agreement in place to serve as the line coach at the University of Maryland. Instead, he was hired by New England to replace heralded coach Dante Scarnecchia, who had been with the team for 30 years.
Now, the Patriots have one of the worst offensive lines in football and Brady has been under siege throughout much of the first three games, all against somewhat lowly opponents. Whether the problems are primarily issues of talent or coaching is yet to be determined. At this point the unit doesn't look particularly talented OR well coached. Regardless, today Bill Belichick gave the new coach a ringing endorsement.
One thing is clear: Whatever is going on with the line needs to be fixed. And it needs to be fixed fast, or Tom Brady is going to get injured.
You can watch the clip of Greg Bedard's appearance on the Felger and Mazz show here.
@LC_NEP
@PatriotsLife
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| The Providence Journal/Bob Breidenbach |
There is no denying the line has been awful, leading fingers pointing in multiple directions: Jordan Devey, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and new offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo. Today, MMQB writer Greg Bedard, who now appears on the Felger and Mazz show weekly, stated that he has heard the new coach may not be meshing well with his group of linemen. Here is what Bedard had to say when Felger asked him if it was fair to criticize the new coach (From CSNNE.com):
"I think it's fair game," Greg Bedard, senior NFL writer at SI, said today on Felger & Mazz. Later, Bedard went further."I'll add this: The chatter that I'm hearing from around the Patriots is that he is not exactly popular with the players, and that it may have a factor in [Logan] Mankins saying, 'No, I'm not renegotiating my contract.' ""That Mankins didn't want to stay and work with this guy?" asked Michael Felger."I've heard that from people who would know," replied Bedard."But everybody's got to be a professional," he continued. "Just because he's not [Scarnecchia] doesn't mean you can't work with him . . ."The thing that impressed me about Scar, and you heard this from players, is he's a very good communicator. Yeah, he might be on you, but you know exactly what you're doing wrong and what you need to do to correct it . . .I have not talked with [DeGuglielmo], I haven't been around him; I don't know if he's the same way. But, you know, [Bill] Belichick put a lot of faith in him, and right now it doesn't look so good."
This comes on the heels of what was not exactly a glowing endorsement of the new coach from injured center Ryan Wendell, who said DeGuglielmo "has his own flavor."
The coach, a native of Cambridge who played college football at BU, does not exactly have a stellar resume. He had some excellent years with the Giants working under Tom Coughlin, after which he spent time as the line coach in Miami. In 2012, he was hired as the line coach for the Jets, but was fired after one season. He then found himself out of football for a year and spent the 2013 season as a sports radio analyst.
Prior to being hired by the Patriots before this season, DeGuglielmo had an agreement in place to serve as the line coach at the University of Maryland. Instead, he was hired by New England to replace heralded coach Dante Scarnecchia, who had been with the team for 30 years.
Now, the Patriots have one of the worst offensive lines in football and Brady has been under siege throughout much of the first three games, all against somewhat lowly opponents. Whether the problems are primarily issues of talent or coaching is yet to be determined. At this point the unit doesn't look particularly talented OR well coached. Regardless, today Bill Belichick gave the new coach a ringing endorsement.
One thing is clear: Whatever is going on with the line needs to be fixed. And it needs to be fixed fast, or Tom Brady is going to get injured.
You can watch the clip of Greg Bedard's appearance on the Felger and Mazz show here.
@LC_NEP
@PatriotsLife
