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Guregian: Dante Scarnecchia opens up about Patriots’ new offense, coaching staff


Karen GuregianAugust 8, 2022 at 2:51 p.m.
PILING ON: Patriots coach Bill Belichick watches along with offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, right, during the fourth quarter of what proved to be his 200th regular-season win.

PILING ON: Patriots coach Bill Belichick watches along with offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, right, during the fourth quarter of what proved to be his 200th regular-season win.
FOXBORO — Dante Scarnecchia hasn’t watched any of the Patriots’ padded practices in person.

But the offensive line guru has certainly read about all the difficulties the team, and his old O-line in particular, has had adjusting to the new outside zone running scheme, which is now being paired with a bootleg, play-action passing game.

His reaction?

Relax. It’s not panic time just yet.



Scarnecchia believes Bill Belichick will know after joint practices with the Panthers and Raiders and the team’s three preseason games if the scheme is a worthy pursuit or if the Pats should just keep it in their back pocket.

“I would say this, in fairness to everyone, I just think this is the wrong time to evaluate it. The pads have come on, but they’re not playing real football yet,” Scarnecchia told the Herald on Monday. “Whenever they play the Giants, we’ll have a better idea where this thing is. Even at that point, it’s not totally fair to say they can’t (do it).

“I think there’s a (three-game) process at hand, where we’ll have a better idea where this thing is going. … What doesn’t look good in training camp early, has no bearing on anything.”

Scarnecchia would know, having won five Super Bowls and coached the Patriots offensive line for 18 years under Belichick. But what if the offense still looks clunky at the end of the month?

In Scar’s view, Belichick will scrap it. Others who have played for Belichick — former linebacker Ted Johnson for one — disagree, believing the head coach will stubbornly stay with the new way. Scarnecchia, however, was firm in his take.



“Bill’s never been one to say, ‘we’re going to run this no matter how it looks,’’’ he said. “He won’t do that. I can remember him saying numerous times, ‘we’re going on to something else’.”

Scarnecchia continued: “But in the meantime, you can’t stick your toe in the water and say this is what it’s going to be. You just gotta make the leap, trust the techniques, and trust the guys involved.

“They’re good enough up front, and I’m sure they’re good enough at tight end, and all the rest of it. You can run behind Trent Brown or Isaiah Wynn.”

As for the notion that the Patriots never switched to a Kyle Shanahan-like scheme because former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Scar and former running backs Ivan Fears vetoed it, the former O-line coach denied it unequivocally.

“I can tell you without a doubt, we ran the outside zone play,” said Scarnecchia. “What we didn’t run off that action are the bootlegs off that, which is what you’re seeing from San Francisco, the Rams, all those teams where that came from. And why didn’t we do that?”

The answer is because Tom Brady, as great as he was, wasn’t suited to rolling out and running the bootlegs that the Patriots are now trying to incorporate.

Scarnecchia, McDaniels and Fears didn’t have to squelch the notion. They didn’t have to sway Belichick to stop that in its tracks. It was obvious it wouldn’t work with the personnel involved.

According to the legendary assistant, they actually tried during Brady’s time, even though it didn’t seem like the best option for the GOAT. They practiced the boot actions and ran a few in games. But when Brady was stripped of the ball the first time they tried it, that was pretty much the end of that.

In other words, no pushback was necessary.

Still, the Patriots did utilize the outside zone from time to time, thanks to having a great blocking tight end in Rob Gronkowski. It wasn’t a staple of the offense, but it was certainly in their bag of tricks.

“I’d say we were as good a team at running the outside zone to the open side, the non-tight end side, as anybody in football,” said Scarnecchia. “And we were good at running it to the tight end side when we had a good enough tight end to block it – Rob Gronkowski. So we ran it.

“We ran it out of two-back sets a lot with Sony Michel (in 2018). … We ran toss-crack, we ran outside zone, we ran the gap runs inside, whatever we felt like we could do, we did.”

And that, Scarnecchia suspects, will be the approach in 2022. They’ll go with what works.

Scarnecchia, who said he was a fan of the outside zone, added when he came out of retirement to coach the offensive line in 2016, many training camp hours were invested into teaching the scheme, sans any boot action.

That didn’t mean they didn’t go through some struggles, but they eventually found the best ways to incorporate the outside zone runs.

“I can only speak for myself, but I never said we couldn’t run it,” he said. “There were times where if you looked at the tight ends, you’d say we’re really not going to have much success with this guy blocking, but it didn’t mean we didn’t run the outside zone to the weak side, where the tackle was the guy doing the heavy lifting.

"We ran that play for years as good as anybody ran it.”

Then the question becomes whether or not Mac Jones is suited for these moving play-action fakes. Scarnecchia was sure the second-year quarterback was more than capable of accomplishing the mission.

“He did it in college, and I think he’s got a skill set,” said Scarnecchia. “Let me put it this way, does he have the same skill set athletically and speed-wise as (Rams quarterback) Matthew Stafford?”

As prospects, Stafford ran a 4.81 in the 40-yard dash, while Jones clocked a 4.72. So to Scar, the answer is yes.

“Mac Jones, I would suspect, is faster than Tom Brady. I’m not saying more athletic, because I think Tom is a fabulous athlete. But I’m sure they’re going into it thinking he can do those things," he said. "You bootleg, you come out, you throw the ball, and you try to get it thrown fast.”

Scarnecchia actually caught the Jets in-stadium practice the other night – he’s in New York visiting his son – and saw Joe Flacco essentially being asked to run the same type of plays as Zach Wilson with the boot actions.

“Ball fake, roll out, throw the ball,” said Scarnecchia. “It ain’t that hard.”

Now for Matt Patricia, who is the offensive line coach by name, and appears to be the de facto offensive coordinator. Is it possible for Patricia to do both jobs and be effective?

Scarnecchia suspects if Patricia is in fact the play-caller, which is how it looks, assistant offensive line coach Billy Yates will handle the O-line during games. He just doesn’t know that for sure.

“I really don’t know how it’s all going to work. I do think it is a heavy load, but Matt’s a guy that’s used to having heavy loads on Sunday," said Scar. "I think the rub for me, personally, is being able to know enough to set things up in the passing game, whether they’re on either run-pass down-and-distance situations or total pass situations.

"I think it’s a heavy load to ask of someone. I’m not going to refute that and say it’s not. But there are guys who are very, very capable, and have minds that are so strong they can take things on like that. We can all make this judgment on Matt right now, but we don’t know. He’s been a coordinator. So he knows what it takes."

Bottom line, in Scar's view, is if Belichick is entrusting Patricia, he believes he can do the job.

Scarnecchia likes seeing that the Patriots are trying to evolve, and trying to adapt an offense that could be more successful. With the success of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan in recent years, many teams are going the copycat route.

"It is a copycat league, and people look at teams that have had success, but you really have to be yourself, too," said Scarnecchia. "The last time we won the Super Bowl, we were a two-back team. Who runs two backs anymore? So what are they left with?

"Outside zones or crack sweeps. And if you go inside, gap runs, maybe you can wham and blast and do things like that if your tight ends can do the heavy lifting. So that’s what you got. There isn’t anything else. So, having said that, you can run outside zones, you can run inside zones, and gap runs. That’s basically it.

"They’ll do whatever they feel their personnel is best-suited to do. I’m anxious to see how it goes. I’d like to see them be successful, of course.”

And in New England, he's hardly alone in that.
What scar says is what I had said in a previous thread. That if this system does not work in the preseason Bill will scrap it. So we have basically a few weeks to see if it becomes productive enough to where they roll into the regular season with it. I am really looking forward to seeing it in the preseason. Hopefully it does start to smooth out as I do think an offensive change in system was needed but implementing it is obviously a whole different story.
 

Guregian: Dante Scarnecchia opens up about Patriots’ new offense, coaching staff


Karen GuregianAugust 8, 2022 at 2:51 p.m.
PILING ON: Patriots coach Bill Belichick watches along with offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, right, during the fourth quarter of what proved to be his 200th regular-season win.

PILING ON: Patriots coach Bill Belichick watches along with offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, right, during the fourth quarter of what proved to be his 200th regular-season win.
FOXBORO — Dante Scarnecchia hasn’t watched any of the Patriots’ padded practices in person.

But the offensive line guru has certainly read about all the difficulties the team, and his old O-line in particular, has had adjusting to the new outside zone running scheme, which is now being paired with a bootleg, play-action passing game.

His reaction?

Relax. It’s not panic time just yet.



Scarnecchia believes Bill Belichick will know after joint practices with the Panthers and Raiders and the team’s three preseason games if the scheme is a worthy pursuit or if the Pats should just keep it in their back pocket.

“I would say this, in fairness to everyone, I just think this is the wrong time to evaluate it. The pads have come on, but they’re not playing real football yet,” Scarnecchia told the Herald on Monday. “Whenever they play the Giants, we’ll have a better idea where this thing is. Even at that point, it’s not totally fair to say they can’t (do it).

“I think there’s a (three-game) process at hand, where we’ll have a better idea where this thing is going. … What doesn’t look good in training camp early, has no bearing on anything.”

Scarnecchia would know, having won five Super Bowls and coached the Patriots offensive line for 18 years under Belichick. But what if the offense still looks clunky at the end of the month?

In Scar’s view, Belichick will scrap it. Others who have played for Belichick — former linebacker Ted Johnson for one — disagree, believing the head coach will stubbornly stay with the new way. Scarnecchia, however, was firm in his take.



“Bill’s never been one to say, ‘we’re going to run this no matter how it looks,’’’ he said. “He won’t do that. I can remember him saying numerous times, ‘we’re going on to something else’.”

Scarnecchia continued: “But in the meantime, you can’t stick your toe in the water and say this is what it’s going to be. You just gotta make the leap, trust the techniques, and trust the guys involved.

“They’re good enough up front, and I’m sure they’re good enough at tight end, and all the rest of it. You can run behind Trent Brown or Isaiah Wynn.”

As for the notion that the Patriots never switched to a Kyle Shanahan-like scheme because former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, Scar and former running backs Ivan Fears vetoed it, the former O-line coach denied it unequivocally.

“I can tell you without a doubt, we ran the outside zone play,” said Scarnecchia. “What we didn’t run off that action are the bootlegs off that, which is what you’re seeing from San Francisco, the Rams, all those teams where that came from. And why didn’t we do that?”

The answer is because Tom Brady, as great as he was, wasn’t suited to rolling out and running the bootlegs that the Patriots are now trying to incorporate.

Scarnecchia, McDaniels and Fears didn’t have to squelch the notion. They didn’t have to sway Belichick to stop that in its tracks. It was obvious it wouldn’t work with the personnel involved.

According to the legendary assistant, they actually tried during Brady’s time, even though it didn’t seem like the best option for the GOAT. They practiced the boot actions and ran a few in games. But when Brady was stripped of the ball the first time they tried it, that was pretty much the end of that.

In other words, no pushback was necessary.

Still, the Patriots did utilize the outside zone from time to time, thanks to having a great blocking tight end in Rob Gronkowski. It wasn’t a staple of the offense, but it was certainly in their bag of tricks.

“I’d say we were as good a team at running the outside zone to the open side, the non-tight end side, as anybody in football,” said Scarnecchia. “And we were good at running it to the tight end side when we had a good enough tight end to block it – Rob Gronkowski. So we ran it.

“We ran it out of two-back sets a lot with Sony Michel (in 2018). … We ran toss-crack, we ran outside zone, we ran the gap runs inside, whatever we felt like we could do, we did.”

And that, Scarnecchia suspects, will be the approach in 2022. They’ll go with what works.

Scarnecchia, who said he was a fan of the outside zone, added when he came out of retirement to coach the offensive line in 2016, many training camp hours were invested into teaching the scheme, sans any boot action.

That didn’t mean they didn’t go through some struggles, but they eventually found the best ways to incorporate the outside zone runs.

“I can only speak for myself, but I never said we couldn’t run it,” he said. “There were times where if you looked at the tight ends, you’d say we’re really not going to have much success with this guy blocking, but it didn’t mean we didn’t run the outside zone to the weak side, where the tackle was the guy doing the heavy lifting.

"We ran that play for years as good as anybody ran it.”

Then the question becomes whether or not Mac Jones is suited for these moving play-action fakes. Scarnecchia was sure the second-year quarterback was more than capable of accomplishing the mission.

“He did it in college, and I think he’s got a skill set,” said Scarnecchia. “Let me put it this way, does he have the same skill set athletically and speed-wise as (Rams quarterback) Matthew Stafford?”

As prospects, Stafford ran a 4.81 in the 40-yard dash, while Jones clocked a 4.72. So to Scar, the answer is yes.

“Mac Jones, I would suspect, is faster than Tom Brady. I’m not saying more athletic, because I think Tom is a fabulous athlete. But I’m sure they’re going into it thinking he can do those things," he said. "You bootleg, you come out, you throw the ball, and you try to get it thrown fast.”

Scarnecchia actually caught the Jets in-stadium practice the other night – he’s in New York visiting his son – and saw Joe Flacco essentially being asked to run the same type of plays as Zach Wilson with the boot actions.

“Ball fake, roll out, throw the ball,” said Scarnecchia. “It ain’t that hard.”

Now for Matt Patricia, who is the offensive line coach by name, and appears to be the de facto offensive coordinator. Is it possible for Patricia to do both jobs and be effective?

Scarnecchia suspects if Patricia is in fact the play-caller, which is how it looks, assistant offensive line coach Billy Yates will handle the O-line during games. He just doesn’t know that for sure.

“I really don’t know how it’s all going to work. I do think it is a heavy load, but Matt’s a guy that’s used to having heavy loads on Sunday," said Scar. "I think the rub for me, personally, is being able to know enough to set things up in the passing game, whether they’re on either run-pass down-and-distance situations or total pass situations.

"I think it’s a heavy load to ask of someone. I’m not going to refute that and say it’s not. But there are guys who are very, very capable, and have minds that are so strong they can take things on like that. We can all make this judgment on Matt right now, but we don’t know. He’s been a coordinator. So he knows what it takes."

Bottom line, in Scar's view, is if Belichick is entrusting Patricia, he believes he can do the job.

Scarnecchia likes seeing that the Patriots are trying to evolve, and trying to adapt an offense that could be more successful. With the success of Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan in recent years, many teams are going the copycat route.

"It is a copycat league, and people look at teams that have had success, but you really have to be yourself, too," said Scarnecchia. "The last time we won the Super Bowl, we were a two-back team. Who runs two backs anymore? So what are they left with?

"Outside zones or crack sweeps. And if you go inside, gap runs, maybe you can wham and blast and do things like that if your tight ends can do the heavy lifting. So that’s what you got. There isn’t anything else. So, having said that, you can run outside zones, you can run inside zones, and gap runs. That’s basically it.

"They’ll do whatever they feel their personnel is best-suited to do. I’m anxious to see how it goes. I’d like to see them be successful, of course.”

And in New England, he's hardly alone in that.
I reposted over in the Mac Jones forum. thought I had seen this somewhere before coming across it on my apple feed :doh:
 
I liked Scar stepping up to shoot holes in all the hot takes from the usual local media suspects. He's done that a couple of times now, because, well, he can and he knows
that Bill (or anybody else) isn't going to discuss strategic issues, which is what this is. He's the closest thing we have to an inside source on the coaching staff who will
tell us what is what. And he's not just a blabbermouth who was here for a cup of coffee.

So, he says, no big deal. We've done versions of it here and there and Bill isn't stupid. Also, what we're doing now is the only way you can change things up, because you
can only hit people so much, so.....yeah, we could conceivably look really bad in the preseason in trying to run a predominantly zone scheme and dial it back for the regular
season if it's not coming together.

He tells the truth and doesn't sugar coat things, but he's a huge fan and friend of the Boss and will defend him by shedding some light on inside football. To the extent he can do
so without making it overly complex. He's just trying to calm the fans down and help them to understand that the organization is not going to march over a cliff because Bill's gone
senile and wants to force a square peg into a round hole. As some would like us to believe.

It's an experiment and we don't have the data needed right now to figure out if it is horrible, great or somewhere in between. Let's just see how things go against the Giants and
we'll get some returns to talk about.
 
If the offense was looking amazing, absorbing all the changes quickly and lighting it up, what would the stories be about?

They'd be about how much the defense sucks. I mean, is there even any doubt about that? Of course that's what the story would be.

Leading up to the season there were two main narratives about the Patriots: 1) what are we going to do with no offensive coaches and all the changes, that's a disaster waiting to happen, and 2) there are no CBs or LBs, we won't be able to stop anyone.

No one is talking about that second narrative anymore. And oddly enough, that's stupid, too. If the offense is really as bad as they are saying, they shouldn't have any comfort about the defense not being as horrible as they'd been telling us they would be.

I'm trying to paste together some TC feedback I got from a connection of mine who attended Monday - Thursday and again today. I have to do the family thing for awhile, but I'll probably have something ready for tomorrow.
 
I liked Scar stepping up to shoot holes in all the hot takes from the usual local media suspects. He's done that a couple of times now, because, well, he can and he knows
that Bill (or anybody else) isn't going to discuss strategic issues, which is what this is. He's the closest thing we have to an inside source on the coaching staff who will
tell us what is what. And he's not just a blabbermouth who was here for a cup of coffee.

So, he says, no big deal. We've done versions of it here and there and Bill isn't stupid. Also, what we're doing now is the only way you can change things up, because you
can only hit people so much, so.....yeah, we could conceivably look really bad in the preseason in trying to run a predominantly zone scheme and dial it back for the regular
season if it's not coming together.

He tells the truth and doesn't sugar coat things, but he's a huge fan and friend of the Boss and will defend him by shedding some light on inside football. To the extent he can do
so without making it overly complex. He's just trying to calm the fans down and help them to understand that the organization is not going to march over a cliff because Bill's gone
senile and wants to force a square peg into a round hole. As some would like us to believe.

It's an experiment and we don't have the data needed right now to figure out if it is horrible, great or somewhere in between. Let's just see how things go against the Giants and
we'll get some returns to talk about.
We literally did this in 2010, and ended up going 14-2. The short-term memory is insane in this town.
 
like anything else, we and the media are talking about training camp... 'cause that's what we got to talk about. I'll be very curious how both units look Thursday night and during preseason and joint practices. I hope the D is stronger and not just benefiting from a confused O trying to figure out a new system.
I suspect they'll be a lively game-day thread on Thursday night with plenty of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments if things don't go well


then that'll be what's talked about until there's something more to talk about. seems repetitive... like we've all done this for years :coffee:
 
like anything else, we and the media are talking about training camp... 'cause that's what we got to talk about. I'll be very curious how both units look Thursday night and during preseason and joint practices. I hope the D is stronger and not just benefiting from a confused O trying to figure out a new system.
I suspect they'll be a lively game-day thread on Thursday night with plenty of gnashing of teeth and rending of garments if things don't go well


then that'll be what's talked about until there's something more to talk about. seems repetitive... like we've all done this for years :coffee:
This is what will happen: 1) if the offense is good, it'll be because the Giants' defense sucks; 2) if the offense sucks, it'll be because BB, Fatty Matty and Judge the Dummy suck; 3) if the defense is good, it'll be because the Giants' offense sucks; 4) if the defense sucks, it'll be because Belichick's son sucks. Enjoy the game!
 
This is what will happen: 1) if the offense is good, it'll be because the Giants' defense sucks; 2) if the offense sucks, it'll be because BB, Fatty Matty and Judge the Dummy suck; 3) if the defense is good, it'll be because the Giants' offense sucks; 4) if the defense sucks, it'll be because Belichick's son sucks. Enjoy the game!
And the charitable and fair-minded aftermath. :coffee:

Cheers
 
Almost everything in training camp favors the offense.
These reports are pretty scary, and I’ve got absolutely no faith in Patricia or Judge. We are going to find that bringing them back was a huge mistake.
I like Mac, but his ceiling is Andy Dalton in his prime. He’s gonna need good coaching and personal to get there. Outside of the run game, he’s got neither.
 
Almost everything in training camp favors the offense.
These reports are pretty scary, and I’ve got absolutely no faith in Patricia or Judge. We are going to find that bringing them back was a huge mistake.
I like Mac, but his ceiling is Andy Dalton in his prime. He’s gonna need good coaching and personal to get there. Outside of the run game, he’s got neither.
You don't have to get personal...
 
Almost everything in training camp favors the offense.
These reports are pretty scary, and I’ve got absolutely no faith in Patricia or Judge. We are going to find that bringing them back was a huge mistake.
I like Mac, but his ceiling is Andy Dalton in his prime. He’s gonna need good coaching and personal to get there. Outside of the run game, he’s got neither.
BB is tanking this season. Mac Jones is disastrous...just ask Colon Cowturd. It is what it is!
 
Almost everything in training camp favors the offense.
These reports are pretty scary, and I’ve got absolutely no faith in Patricia or Judge. We are going to find that bringing them back was a huge mistake.
I like Mac, but his ceiling is Andy Dalton in his prime. He’s gonna need good coaching and personal to get there. Outside of the run game, he’s got neither.

The first line is patently false. It's fairly well known that defenses have the edge in training camp, especially early on, and especially when the pads are on in 11v11.

Reading the reports about the offense in 7s compared to 11s is day-and-night.
 
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