The annual East West Shrine Bowl is scheduled for February 2nd in Las Vegas, with the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons coaching staff leading the charge for both teams. The Patriots coaching staff will be in charge of the west but there is a name on the coaching staff that has been left off, Matt Patricia. Patricia is the only coach from the 2022 season who is left off the coaching staff for the Shrine Bowl, outside of Steve Belichick who will be attending but is expecting the birth of his child, but why was Patricia left off?
First Off, Who Are the Coaches For the Patriots?
In supervisory roles for the west team, it’s Bill Belichick, Jerod Mayo, and newly named offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. The Shriners Bowl announced O’Brien would be in the supervisory role on the Patriots staff for the game before the news broke about him taking the offensive coordinator position with the Patriots.
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The head coach for the west will be Patriots wide receiver coach Troy Brown, who remains at the top of the list as one of the very best position coaches in the entire NFL. Ross Douglass will be the offensive coordinator for the west. Douglas is also a wide receivers coach for the Patriots being a part of the NFL Coaching Fellowship as well.
The defensive coordinators will be Mike Pellegrino, who is the cornerbacks coach for New England, and Bill Belichick’s lesser publicized son on the staff Brian Belichick.
The remaining position coaches for the game are all filled by either the Patriots offensive or defensive assistants.
Why Was Patricia Left Off?
After not being on the initial press briefing on who would be attending, Joe Judge and Steve Belichick will be attending the event but the fact remains why is Matt Patricia not in Vegas with the rest of the staff?
Patricia, who was internally relieved of play calling duties at different points this past season, still is listed on the Patriots website as Senior Football Advisor and offensive line coach. With this decision to leave Patricia behind, it looks to be like his future with the Patriots remains in limbo.
As Joe Judge’s titles have already been handed over to O’Brien, the Patriots seem to be dragging their feet when it comes to making a decision on Patricia.
Jeff Howe of the Athletic reported that it is Patricia who is looking to make a decision on his future and he can return to the Patriots or he could look to go elsewhere on the defensive side of the ball.
Patricia was publicly criticized by players this past season, most notably after the 24-10 loss to Buffalo when his poor play calling led Kendrick Bourne to bash on his coach in a passive aggressive way.
“Veteran wide receiver Kendrick Bourne became the public face of frustrations, when he told reporters post-game the Patriots needed to ‘scheme up better’ and be more aggressive. Others in the locker room agreed, believing Patricia had called the game ‘scared’ to avoid getting blown out.”
Nick Caley Also Left Off the Staff
Tight ends coach Nick Caley was left off of the staff for the Shrine Bowl as well as he was in contention for the Jets’ offensive coordinator job before Nathaniel Hackett was named OC for them. Caley was in contention for the Patriots’ job as well but it remains behind closed doors how serious a candidate he was. His future with the Patriots, like Patricia’s, remains unknown moving forward.
The East West Shrine Bowl is scheduled for next Thursday, February 2nd, at 8:30 PM EST.
