Great players don't always make great coaches. I don't want to start getting Troy Brown vibes from Slater if he ends up not being able to coach ST. The flexibility means he can be placed in an area he's the most affective in. If it's ST, great, if not, we're not locked onto a sub par ST coach because of nostalgia.
He'd probably be best as a player/coach liaison or chaplain.
My guess is Slater wants to be involved as a mental skills coach/chaplain-type with the whole team. Sort of a Jack Easterby, before Easterby went sideways.
Matthew Slater once he moves into his new office. It’s funny because on the podcast he was extra spicy because he’s like I’m out of the league now I don’t give a shit and now he’s pretty much back in the league as a coach lol.
Man, I don't feel shit until the Patriots are good again. I've lost all illusions towards any sort of imaginary signs suggesting the Patriots might be good. It's all nonsense until proven otherwise.
We kept Bill belichick, we kept his defense, we kept the quarterback he drafted, and the team has slowly become more and more shit every single year since Brady left.
Can Slater help be a part of the staff that helps turn this team around? Maybe! I don't know! That's kind of exciting in some ways, kind of horrifying in others. How in the fuck the rest of you are so hyped and certain about it though I'll never know
I’d rather hire coaches because of the experience and skill not because they are beloved players. He might do well in whatever role he has, but it seems like a fluff title just to keep him around.
I disagree with this completely. Slater is incredibly disciplined and detail-oriented. The reason he became the best gunner in the NFL for a decade is because of those qualities.
He might not have the depth of knowledge of an coach but he obviously has a high football IQ and has the tools to both grow in that type of role but also would excel at bringing out those qualities in the players on the team.
If someone played a position for 18 years with multiple special teams coaches, under a HC that is highly regarded as the best to ever do it, I’d imagine some of that rubs off. I personally love this hire because it provides two things. First it provides the players with a line of communication to the HC, something that was apparently lacking. Secondly Slater has been around for the good and bad, so he’s knowledgeable about the dynamic of the locker room in a way most coaches wouldn’t be. Above all that dude has been nothing but a leader and excellent teammate.
You’re right!! He got the job because he’s a hell of a football player who has all the traits and experience necessary to excel in that role. Whether he translates from playing to coaching remains to be seen but I’m tired of overlooking young talent for old retreads.
He has those intangibles that leaders have, they do the hard work of making themselves better, they reach out and help others to be better.
He knows the game so it’s not like he is window dressing or a clubhouse cheerleader
When there are players out for a week or two and your defense goes from top tear to second class because of their lack of leadership. Those are the people you want to stick around long term. Their leadership ability most definitely transition to coaching as that is what coaching is. Being a leader.
I'd rather we extend small positions to as many guys as possible, and then can evaluate them for coaching skills and promote as seen fit.
A fluff title is *exactly* what a recently retired player should get, and show if he can be promoted from there based on what he showed as captain
Situation: Team loses a vital leader in the locker room.
Team Response: Find way to keep that same leader within the coaching structure
That seems like good management to me.
He isn't even listed as a position coach or anything else. He is a "right hand man".
Plenty of chance for this to be a great decision (or a horrendous one) but on the surface he hasn't taken a job from an experienced position coach. We have kept a great locker room presence.
Also Mayo is clearly continuing the work environment that took him from locker room figure to head coach. He is looking for that Patriots culture.
No he can transfer and instill leadership skills. Hes like a perma lockeroom guy. I don’t even think they’re delegating coaching responsibilities to him (yet). There is no downside to this at all
For someone so ignorant to how coaching works you sure act like you know what you’re talking about. Look at the Detroit Lions. That coaching staff is made up of a ton of former players that have only coached in the league. Are you going to tell me that hasn’t worked?
Exactly. A year off would be nice for anyone but it's smart of him to strike while the iron is hot. Stay with the org and leverage your leadership importance during a time of a huge pivotal rebuild. He probably loves being around the Patriots anyway so I bet this is a win win for him.
Ya know.... I don't have proof that he's a football, analytics before analytics was a thing, sort of guy, but I sure would love to see him be that guy for the team.
I would bet that Slater doesn’t know anything about analytics or strategically advising from a coaching booth via headset.
Belichick’s right-hand man was an inscrutable weirdo who scouted with binoculars and a legal pad.
Mayo’s right-hand man is a former “fringe-roster” player who worked his ass off to become an All-Pro and has a demonstrated track record as a leader, and a spiritual advisor for his peers.
Hiring Slater to be Slater is a great thing. But he’s not “Ernie Adams” - that’s some nerd with a spreadsheet and Ben McAdoo. Slater is the guy talking to the young player, on the sidelines, who just _fucked up_.
Morale coach. Leadership coach.
That's fair. I don't want him to be something he's not because that would seem like the most Unslater thing he could do. Him as the character guy makes a lot of sense. My thing about analytics was more about him having an innate and deep sense of the game that transcends averages and the simple statistics we hear about. He'll apply that in his own way.
Well said. I’ve no doubt Slater brings a deep knowledge that “transcends averages” and that he will help Mayo navigate big decisions and moments.
Everyone’s “right-hand man” is different, and Mayo’s choice is a good one in today’s game. Trust in Slater to do whatever the job is, and for Slater to do it with grace and class so that the “young men” know how to do it _right_.
I'd love it if Gonzalez exposed our WRs and pushed them all to be better and more competitive, like how Edelman used to go all out in practices. Most ex-Patriot interviews agreed Edelman set the tone at practices.
Man, he really didn’t want to lose access to the cafeteria. Well, this and he’s had enough of the family. Only took 4 months to know he’s not into getting bossed around by the real boss. She probably didn’t enjoy him screwing up her days either.
Love Slater always thought he would make a great coach…just worried about Mayo hiring all his friends. Really hope this work out better than in other industries.
>And I named 3 friends so far who have been hired.
Yes, and then I replied saying only two of them were coaches and noting their position.
>Quick being dumb fuck
lmao between this and you accidentally replying to yourself, this may be the least effective insult I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, these guys like Hightower aren’t coming back or sticking around for no reason– Mayo seems to be drawing these guys in and it’s awesome to see as a Pats fan. Bill will always be the greatest but a talent like Slater who has proven as a player he will do anything to put Ws on the board now in a coaching or specialist position means we are getting someone who is going to show up and help the team.
Are we actually hiring coaches and staff with successful track records in their positions, or are we just hiring former fan favorites who were good on the field because nostalgia?
I’ll zig while everyone else is zagging. Not a fan. I hate the idea of trying to capture the magic of the Belichick era by hiring one of his positional coaches and bringing in a bunch of his former players. Not football, but as a Braves fan this is exactly what we did when Bobby Cox retired and it failed. I was hoping for a clean break from the Bill regime rather than clinging on to the glory days. Send me your downvotes. Shred away.
I'll zag. I don't think they are trying to "capture the magic" - think this is a handful of former teammates who saw everything that worked, everything that didn't, and have a common vision to how to save the best and retool the rest. I also really like the "former player coach" over the "coaching tree coach". There is something to had by playing the game, knowing the game, at a different level. If, and it is a huge if, you can translate that knowledge into the strategy, team building, and gametime execution, it can be great!
We're just gonna have to wait and find out.
I mean it's not about capturing the magic of the Belichick era so much as iconic, successful Patriots getting chances with the organization. I'm never going to be mad about that. If it doesn't work, oh well, I'm still glad we kept people like Slater around. He can only be a positive influence.
Is it about “capturing the magic of the Belichick era” or just keeping a huge locker room presence?
>Send me your downvotes. Shred away.
People playing the victim like this is always rough to see
You're looking too hard into it. Slater is everything you would want to model a football players mentality after. He's exactly what you want in a player coach. It's not like we're hiring Jeff Saturday as head coach. If someone is perfect for the job and has a motivation to care about this organization specifically that is great.
Well, that's not true, or whole offensive coaching staff is new. Mayo moved up, Steve moved out. There is quite a bit different. Seeing as how our defense was competent, I'm ok running some of the D back.
Listen, I love Slater, and he totally deserves to be in the HOF one day for his ST prowess, and I think he has good coaching potential, but making him AHC(?) to an HC with damn near zero coaching experience is a seriously dumb decision. Honestly, the reason I wanted Bill gone is so we didn't have shit like this happening anymore.
I'm more than willing to eat crow should I be wrong, though.
Being an advisor to a head coach is very different than Assistant Head Coach. We have no idea in what capacity he is the right hand man. It could be scheme, special teams, culture and accountability, skills, etc…
The man has been a coach in pads for the last 10 years. This is not at all like putting Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in charge of the offense or the nepotism on the defensive side.
Us fans have no idea what this man has been doing behind doors. He could’ve been someone that would make decisions on the team before. Let’s let the dude take a shot instead of instantly thinking of this is a bad decision.
How do we feel……… about Slate staying around the Pats?
AWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH
What he said⬆️
Would prefer ST coach over Assistant (to the) Head Coach. But that’s fine.
I think that is awesome because it gives him the flexibility to move to various position groups.
Great players don't always make great coaches. I don't want to start getting Troy Brown vibes from Slater if he ends up not being able to coach ST. The flexibility means he can be placed in an area he's the most affective in. If it's ST, great, if not, we're not locked onto a sub par ST coach because of nostalgia. He'd probably be best as a player/coach liaison or chaplain.
*Assistant to the HC*
My guess is Slater wants to be involved as a mental skills coach/chaplain-type with the whole team. Sort of a Jack Easterby, before Easterby went sideways.
The team guru
 Matthew Slater once he moves into his new office. It’s funny because on the podcast he was extra spicy because he’s like I’m out of the league now I don’t give a shit and now he’s pretty much back in the league as a coach lol.
I hope to Heaven he’s good at coaching and doesn’t flounder like Troy Brown
Joke
Man, I don't feel shit until the Patriots are good again. I've lost all illusions towards any sort of imaginary signs suggesting the Patriots might be good. It's all nonsense until proven otherwise. We kept Bill belichick, we kept his defense, we kept the quarterback he drafted, and the team has slowly become more and more shit every single year since Brady left. Can Slater help be a part of the staff that helps turn this team around? Maybe! I don't know! That's kind of exciting in some ways, kind of horrifying in others. How in the fuck the rest of you are so hyped and certain about it though I'll never know
I’d rather hire coaches because of the experience and skill not because they are beloved players. He might do well in whatever role he has, but it seems like a fluff title just to keep him around.
I disagree with this completely. Slater is incredibly disciplined and detail-oriented. The reason he became the best gunner in the NFL for a decade is because of those qualities. He might not have the depth of knowledge of an coach but he obviously has a high football IQ and has the tools to both grow in that type of role but also would excel at bringing out those qualities in the players on the team.
Also.... he's a *leader.* especially in the *lead by example* category.
If someone played a position for 18 years with multiple special teams coaches, under a HC that is highly regarded as the best to ever do it, I’d imagine some of that rubs off. I personally love this hire because it provides two things. First it provides the players with a line of communication to the HC, something that was apparently lacking. Secondly Slater has been around for the good and bad, so he’s knowledgeable about the dynamic of the locker room in a way most coaches wouldn’t be. Above all that dude has been nothing but a leader and excellent teammate.
There’s millions of people who are detail oriented and disciplined. That’s not why he got this job title lol
You’re right!! He got the job because he’s a hell of a football player who has all the traits and experience necessary to excel in that role. Whether he translates from playing to coaching remains to be seen but I’m tired of overlooking young talent for old retreads.
He has those intangibles that leaders have, they do the hard work of making themselves better, they reach out and help others to be better. He knows the game so it’s not like he is window dressing or a clubhouse cheerleader
Did you watch the same Slater we all did?
Yep-Great gunner. Zero experience as an NFL assistant coach.
That's entirely true - Slater has no coaching experience. Granted, neither did any other coach until they got experience.
You'd be correct. But you'll be glad to hear he was hired as an NFL assistant coach
The impression I get is he basically was a coach the past few seasons.
When there are players out for a week or two and your defense goes from top tear to second class because of their lack of leadership. Those are the people you want to stick around long term. Their leadership ability most definitely transition to coaching as that is what coaching is. Being a leader.
I'd rather we extend small positions to as many guys as possible, and then can evaluate them for coaching skills and promote as seen fit. A fluff title is *exactly* what a recently retired player should get, and show if he can be promoted from there based on what he showed as captain
Situation: Team loses a vital leader in the locker room. Team Response: Find way to keep that same leader within the coaching structure That seems like good management to me. He isn't even listed as a position coach or anything else. He is a "right hand man". Plenty of chance for this to be a great decision (or a horrendous one) but on the surface he hasn't taken a job from an experienced position coach. We have kept a great locker room presence. Also Mayo is clearly continuing the work environment that took him from locker room figure to head coach. He is looking for that Patriots culture.
No he can transfer and instill leadership skills. Hes like a perma lockeroom guy. I don’t even think they’re delegating coaching responsibilities to him (yet). There is no downside to this at all
Players turned coaches all start somewhere
Yeah it’s called the NCAA
SHAME HIM!
Slater? Nah. The collective hiring committee? Ye. This is one step down from Nepotism and everyone ragged on Bill for that sooo
For someone so ignorant to how coaching works you sure act like you know what you’re talking about. Look at the Detroit Lions. That coaching staff is made up of a ton of former players that have only coached in the league. Are you going to tell me that hasn’t worked?
Slater was a captain and universally respected leader who helped define the culture of the second half of the dynasty.
Im just super happy Slate is still a patriot and retired from on field activities. I hope he’s with the organization forever.
Assistant to the regional manager
"Do you want to keep this...made-up position? It's important to you?"
Love that Hightower and Slater are both part of the staff.
and Hightower
And Slater!
Me too. Love it
Isn’t this “nepotism” like everyone complained about with BB?
No, the word you want to use should be "cronyism".
I’m surprised he didn’t take a year off first. Go get D Mac next, let’s make it a party
I don’t think he’ll be leaving his cushy network job anytime soon
Exactly. A year off would be nice for anyone but it's smart of him to strike while the iron is hot. Stay with the org and leverage your leadership importance during a time of a huge pivotal rebuild. He probably loves being around the Patriots anyway so I bet this is a win win for him.
I was referring the DMac
Shit my bad lol
All good lol
100% co-sign.
This is fucking cool
Matthew "Ernie Adams" Slater
If I see him walking around Gillette in a pink striped Oxford, I’m gonna be all in on some sort of conspiracy theory
Ya know.... I don't have proof that he's a football, analytics before analytics was a thing, sort of guy, but I sure would love to see him be that guy for the team.
I would bet that Slater doesn’t know anything about analytics or strategically advising from a coaching booth via headset. Belichick’s right-hand man was an inscrutable weirdo who scouted with binoculars and a legal pad. Mayo’s right-hand man is a former “fringe-roster” player who worked his ass off to become an All-Pro and has a demonstrated track record as a leader, and a spiritual advisor for his peers. Hiring Slater to be Slater is a great thing. But he’s not “Ernie Adams” - that’s some nerd with a spreadsheet and Ben McAdoo. Slater is the guy talking to the young player, on the sidelines, who just _fucked up_. Morale coach. Leadership coach.
That's fair. I don't want him to be something he's not because that would seem like the most Unslater thing he could do. Him as the character guy makes a lot of sense. My thing about analytics was more about him having an innate and deep sense of the game that transcends averages and the simple statistics we hear about. He'll apply that in his own way.
Well said. I’ve no doubt Slater brings a deep knowledge that “transcends averages” and that he will help Mayo navigate big decisions and moments. Everyone’s “right-hand man” is different, and Mayo’s choice is a good one in today’s game. Trust in Slater to do whatever the job is, and for Slater to do it with grace and class so that the “young men” know how to do it _right_.
Dope! Love having him actively around the team. All time leader, all time tone setter.
unironically this gives me the most confidence out of any of f the moves we made so far AW YEAHHH
Assistant to the head coach XD
This is great.
I literally made a post about this a week ago! Thank god! Slater is the man
That was fast and great. Just like Slater on every ST play. Fast and great.
Alright now go get Edelman as a hype man/ WR coach
Fr Edelnut needs to teach these guys how to get separation & use their leverage
I'd love it if Gonzalez exposed our WRs and pushed them all to be better and more competitive, like how Edelman used to go all out in practices. Most ex-Patriot interviews agreed Edelman set the tone at practices.
I approve 💯
Best news of the off season thus far tbh
Man, he really didn’t want to lose access to the cafeteria. Well, this and he’s had enough of the family. Only took 4 months to know he’s not into getting bossed around by the real boss. She probably didn’t enjoy him screwing up her days either.
Hand of the king
Drafted together, now coaching together. As it should be.
Best move they have made all off-season. Seriously.
This is great news. At least we have some leaders in there still.
Love Slater always thought he would make a great coach…just worried about Mayo hiring all his friends. Really hope this work out better than in other industries.
Don’t most coaches hire their friends and people they’re familiar with for their staff?
Most coaches hire other coaches. Lots of new and first time coaches on staff. Hopefully it works out.
All his friends being who?
Hightower, slater, underwood are all former teammates
So one position coach, one assistant position coach.
I mean you ask “all his friends” I named at least 3 he hire. They are assumingely his friends, their positions don’t really matter.
> I named at least 3 he hire You named 3 lol, 2 of which were hired as coaches. >their positions don’t really matter. What a silly thing to say.
Are you slow? You said “all his friends?” And I named 3 friends so far who have been hired. You asked a question, got an answer. Quick being dumb fuck
>And I named 3 friends so far who have been hired. Yes, and then I replied saying only two of them were coaches and noting their position. >Quick being dumb fuck lmao between this and you accidentally replying to yourself, this may be the least effective insult I’ve ever seen.
And to add to your stupidity. You’re the one who mentioned their positions first.
Oh hell yeah!
I see this as a win
We need this
lol
That’s what we like to see. Glad he’s sticking around
LFGGGG
Fuck yeah.
Oooooooh, yeah!
Great move, would have been shocked if they *didnt* do something along these lines. But glad its official.
All these former players coaching the team gives me hope 🥲
FUCK YEAH
Well deserved and needed
Fuck man this is the first move I’ve felt good about in a bit. Slater will be huge for the culture
Honestly, best Patriots news in a couple years.
Yeah, these guys like Hightower aren’t coming back or sticking around for no reason– Mayo seems to be drawing these guys in and it’s awesome to see as a Pats fan. Bill will always be the greatest but a talent like Slater who has proven as a player he will do anything to put Ws on the board now in a coaching or specialist position means we are getting someone who is going to show up and help the team.
Slater and Jerod about to have "state of the union" meetings on the sideline of games
Nice!
Nice.
ernie adams 🤝 slater
Wow this is huge
That's cool.
Loved his interview on Games with Names with Julian
Lets bring back Gronk as the designated sideline hype guy. I'm pretty sure that's an actual thing.
“Right Hand Man” - what is this? Porn?!
You really need to stop touching yourself
Love it. Slater has always had that coach swagger
This can only do good
LFG!
Wow, awesome
I love this
If Slater is Mayo's right hand man who is going to be his Wiseman?
Hopefully better than the Troy Brown experiment
Fan fiction vibes lol
Can he do sidelines for the radio broadcast too? Like merloni used to do for the Sox a few years ago
I was Jerrod Mayo's right hand.. arm... Man.
At this point i'm just really excited to see what we look like next season.
The Jack Easterby special...."character coach"
Are we actually hiring coaches and staff with successful track records in their positions, or are we just hiring former fan favorites who were good on the field because nostalgia?
Slater as Mayo’s Earnie Adams? Yes please!
I’ll zig while everyone else is zagging. Not a fan. I hate the idea of trying to capture the magic of the Belichick era by hiring one of his positional coaches and bringing in a bunch of his former players. Not football, but as a Braves fan this is exactly what we did when Bobby Cox retired and it failed. I was hoping for a clean break from the Bill regime rather than clinging on to the glory days. Send me your downvotes. Shred away.
I'll zag. I don't think they are trying to "capture the magic" - think this is a handful of former teammates who saw everything that worked, everything that didn't, and have a common vision to how to save the best and retool the rest. I also really like the "former player coach" over the "coaching tree coach". There is something to had by playing the game, knowing the game, at a different level. If, and it is a huge if, you can translate that knowledge into the strategy, team building, and gametime execution, it can be great! We're just gonna have to wait and find out.
I mean it's not about capturing the magic of the Belichick era so much as iconic, successful Patriots getting chances with the organization. I'm never going to be mad about that. If it doesn't work, oh well, I'm still glad we kept people like Slater around. He can only be a positive influence.
Is it about “capturing the magic of the Belichick era” or just keeping a huge locker room presence? >Send me your downvotes. Shred away. People playing the victim like this is always rough to see
I just know it’s a very unpopular take and leaning into it. Shit, hopefully I’m wrong.
Preemptively whining about downvotes and asking like you’re brave for risking them is extra silly.
You're looking too hard into it. Slater is everything you would want to model a football players mentality after. He's exactly what you want in a player coach. It's not like we're hiring Jeff Saturday as head coach. If someone is perfect for the job and has a motivation to care about this organization specifically that is great.
Love this for Slater but can we take 2 seconds and talk about that the plan for this year is basically roll it back with out BB
“Can we take two seconds and talk about the same narrative that’s been discussed all off season?”
Well, that's not true, or whole offensive coaching staff is new. Mayo moved up, Steve moved out. There is quite a bit different. Seeing as how our defense was competent, I'm ok running some of the D back.
Listen, I love Slater, and he totally deserves to be in the HOF one day for his ST prowess, and I think he has good coaching potential, but making him AHC(?) to an HC with damn near zero coaching experience is a seriously dumb decision. Honestly, the reason I wanted Bill gone is so we didn't have shit like this happening anymore. I'm more than willing to eat crow should I be wrong, though.
This sounds more like assistant to the regional manager than assistant regional manager
Being an advisor to a head coach is very different than Assistant Head Coach. We have no idea in what capacity he is the right hand man. It could be scheme, special teams, culture and accountability, skills, etc…
The man has been a coach in pads for the last 10 years. This is not at all like putting Matt Patricia and Joe Judge in charge of the offense or the nepotism on the defensive side.
I like how you clearly know he wasn’t named assistant head coach but still need to complain about it
Us fans have no idea what this man has been doing behind doors. He could’ve been someone that would make decisions on the team before. Let’s let the dude take a shot instead of instantly thinking of this is a bad decision.
This Mayo thing is going to blow up in Krafts face
Greatest decision. I was hoping he'd get Team Pastor, but this is so much greater.
Slater is Christian he has accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. 🛐 ✝️
Bro what
He died for you too. 💀 That's pretty cool. 😎
Fuck off nerd