Black Monday has come and gone. It’s now Wednesday. We’re still waiting to see what happens with the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick.
The overriding question is whether owner Robert Kraft will indeed sever ties with a 24-year employee who continues to be one of the best game-day coaches the sport of football has ever seen. Belichick has made it simple — keep me or fire me — while also potentially complicating things by suggesting publicly (and presumably privately) a willingness to make some changes.
It was believed to be too late for Belichick to change. Or, more accurately, for the Patriots to become convinced he was willing and able to do it.
Regardless, if the Patriots know they’re moving on, why are they waiting? If the goal is to make Mike Vrabel the next head coach of the team, they should get started with their search, before someone else can attract Vrabel’s attention.
It’s a delicate dance, at some level, for New England. It can’t look prearranged, for a variety of reasons. Even though Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk decided not to try to trade Vrabel, nothing stops her from waking up one day and thinking the Titans got screwed. Nothing stops her from deciding to file tampering charges, if she believes it was all too convenient and simple for Vrabel to end up back with the Patriots.
We know how it goes. Things get set up through backchannels all the time. If/when it becomes too obvious, however, feathers can get ruffled. Strunk could conclude she’s been grifted. That she was playing checkers and Vrabel and the Patriots were playing 3D chess.
Regardless, the first step is for the Patriots to have a vacancy. They still don’t. The sooner they do, the sooner they can start their search.
The longer they don’t, the more folks will wonder whether Belichick came up with a way to change Kraft’s mind.