New England has filled several positions on its staff.
In light of their mutual parting of the ways with long-time head honcho Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots were forced to restructure both their coaching staff and their personnel department. Serving as both head coach and de facto general manager, Belichick had led both departments during his 24 seasons with the team.
One month after the split, the Patriots have filled out a significant portion of their post-Belichick organizational structure. Wednesday in particular saw the team fill in several previously blank spaces: the club reportedly hired or re-hired five people, both on the coaching staff and in the front office.
With Brian Belichick staying put, and with T.C. McCartney, Scott Peters, Alonzo Highsmith and Bobby Brown all joining the team, we are starting to get a feel for what the Patriots will look like off the field in 2024. So, let’s take a look at where things stand.
Coaching staff
With Bill Belichick leaving and Jerod Mayo taking over, the Patriots underwent a massive structural shift in all three phases of the game. The change at head coach, after all, was not the only one taking place: New England also installed new coordinators, and retained only a handful of its previous assistant coaches.
With that said, here is what Mayo’s staff looks like as of Thursday morning. Needless to say, change is still afoot:
- Head coach: Jerod Mayo
- Offensive coordinator: Alex Van Pelt
- Quarterbacks: T.C. McCartney
- Running backs: TBD
- Wide receivers: TBD
- Tight ends: TBD
- Offensive line: Scott Peters
- Senior offensive assistant: Ben McAdoo
- Defensive coordinator: DeMarcus Covington
- Defensive line: Jerry Montgomery
- Linebackers: TBD
- Cornerbacks: Mike Pellegrino
- Safeties: Brian Belichick
- Special teams coordinator: Jeremy Springer
- Special teams assistant: TBD
Out of the coaches listed here, only Brian Belichick and Mike Pellegrino currently are set to return in the same roles they held a year ago. There is a theoretical chance that others such as wide receivers coach Troy Brown, tight ends coach Will Lawing, and assistant quarterbacks coach Evan Rothstein eventually join them, but them eventually getting replaced by outside hires is the expectation (hence the TBD label next to their positions).
The rest of the staff, meanwhile, has either changed roles (Mayo, Covington) or was brought aboard from outside the organization entirely (Van Pelt, McCartney, Peters, McAdoo, Montgomery, Springer). As can be seen by the current openings, more such external additions appear to be in the pipeline.
One more name is worth mentioning here. Keith Jones was part of the Patriots’ staff in a fellowship role in 2023. With Jerry Montgomery coming aboard as D-line coach, thus taking away a potential promotion for Jones, the young coach’s future is in question.
Personnel department
One month into the post-Belichick era it has become increasingly obvious who is running the show in the personnel department: Eliot Wolf is the team’s general manager without the title. Now in his fifth year with the club, the team’s director of scouting is working closely with Jerod Mayo in hiring coaches — several of whom have direct ties to Wolf — and preparing the team for free agency and the draft.
With Wolf at the top, here is a current look at the front office in its current configuration:
- Director of scouting: Eliot Wolf
- Assistant director of scouting: Marshall Oium
- Director of player personnel: Matt Groh
- Director of pro scouting: Steve Cargile
- Director of college scouting: Camren Williams
- Senior personnel advisor: Patrick Stewart
- Senior personnel executive*: Alonzo Highsmith
- Personnel executive*: Bobby Brown
Wolf is leading the charge as a quasi-GM, but he is not the only man involved in what the Patriots claim to be a collaborative effort to run the personnel department.
The other big names are Matt Groh and Patrick Stewart: the former is focused primarily on college scouting these days, with the latter involved prominently with both the pro and college departments. The recently-added Alonzo Highsmith and Bobby Brown will also factor into the mix, but it remains to be seen what their titles and responsibilities will be.
Unless further additions from the outside are made, the Patriots will use this group to build the roster during the offseason. Whether all will keep their roles or even stay with the club beyond the draft is up in the air, however.
Fact is, after all, that the Patriots would likely have to conduct a formal general manager search if they want somebody other than Jerod Mayo have final say over roster construction. At the moment, it appears that person is Eliot Wolf but New England would need to satisfy the requirements of the Rooney Rule if that will indeed be his job and no special stipulation — as was the case with Mayo — is in his contract.
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