The stakes are high for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in 2023 as tensions continue to run high between the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and owner Robert Kraft.
After missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay, the fractures in Belichick and Kraft's long-standing bond are widening. A desperately disappointing 8-9 season in 2022 did nothing to ease the owner's concerns about the future in Foxborough, with the Pats slumping from 6-4 by losing five of their final seven games to finish third in the AFC East.
The Patriots' woes last season were underpinned by a huge regression from second-year quarterback Mac Jones, who had impressed in his rookie season but was left with an inadequate coaching framework around after the departure of Josh McDaniels, who took up the head coaching gig at the Las Vegas Raiders.
Belichick bizarrely put his faith in defensive minds Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to run the offense, and it backfired badly with New England unable to move the ball efficiently throughout the season. Belichick, 71, had been given authority over the entire football operation by Kraft, 82, as a result of an unprecedented era of success, making him the defacto general manager with autonomy over much more than just the Xs and Os.
But with just one playoff appearance and a crushing defeat in the Wildcard round by the Buffalo Bills since Brady headed down south – winning his seventh Super Bowl with the Buccanneers in 2021 – Kraft intervened at the start of the off-season by ensuring a traditional offensive coordinator would be put in place.
Former Houston Texans head coach Bill O'Brien is back in Foxborough to run the offense for a second stint and resources have been invested to help Jones get back on track, with receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and tight end Mike Gesicki already signed in free agency and DeAndre Hopkins on the team's wishlist.
But the real story of the off-season in New England has been a series of thinly-veiled warnings to Belichick from Kraft. They enjoyed two decades of incredible success together, but the owner's patience is running out, indicating in March that Belichick – who has 298 career wins is chasing Don Shula's all-time record of 328 – could be out of a job if his team fails to make the playoffs again in 2023.
“Look, I’d like him to break Don Shula’s record but I’m not looking for any our players to get great stats,” Kraft said at the NFL's annual meetings in Arizona.
"We’re about winning, and doing whatever we can to win. And that’s what our focus is now. It’s very important to me that we make the playoffs, and that’s what I hope happens next year.”
Last week, the pressure on Belichick only increased with Kraft telling MassLive a seventh Super Bowl win in the near future is the only thing that will truly satisfy the owner.
And Kraft – who has also disputed suggestions from Belichick at the end of last season that the Patriots' struggles post-Brady are tied to not spending enough in the free agent market – is not managing expectations going into 2023. He believes the Patriots have a team that can compete.
“I think we’ve had a great offseason,” he added. “I like our draft. We probably play in the toughest division in football, but I love our team.”
