Longtime New England Patriots coach Ivan Fears confirmed his retirement while catching up with Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald.
Fears, 67, has coached for 46 years and he’s spent 23 of them in the NFL with the Patriots. He was the wide receivers coach for multiple stints in the late 90s and he coached the running back crew from 2002-21. Fears has six Super Bowl wins from his time with the Patriots and he’s been the running back guru throughout the entire dynasty run.
His presence will be missed in numerous ways, but it sounds like he’ll still be actively involved with the team in some capacity. Fears told Guregian that he’s still keeping tabs and offering “tidbits” — while saying he like the term “running backs consultant.”
Caught up with Ivan Fears, who has been observing Patriots practices.
The former RB coach confirmed he’s retired, but still keeping tabs and offering “tidbits” from what he sees at practice.
Is he a running backs consultant? Fears said he liked the term.— Karen Guregian (@kguregian) June 7, 2022
Rhamondre Stevenson, who had a stellar rookie year with the Patriots, discussed Fears’ presence heading into 2022.
“He loves the game,” Stevenson said, transcribed by NESN. “It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t see him … honestly. It’s just great seeing him around. I still talk to him. He’s still in everyone’s ear, things like that.”
The Patriots have dealt with a ton of turnover with offensive coaches and they’re looking at Matt Patricia and Joe Judge to pick up the pieces.
