As the first weeks without football go by, attention turns to the new NFL league year in March and most importantly, free agency and the Draft.
I’ll be taking a dive into both in the coming weeks, but first, let’s round up the latest news from the first few weeks of the Patriots offseason.
Coaching Additions
Whilst the team is yet to dip their toes into the player market, they have begun adding to the staff ranks.
Following on from Matty P’s return a few weeks back, the team is expected to bring in Bo Hardegree as an offensive assistant. Hardegree has been a coach in the league since 2014, moving between Denver, Chigaco, and under Adam Gase, at Miami and New York.
Given Bill’s friendship and respect for Gase, it’s not hard to imagine that a good word was put in to secure Hardegree’s new role with the team.
Later this week, Mike Reiss reported that former Super Bowl-winning offensive lineman Billy Yates was expected to stick around and join the coaching team for the upcoming season.
As noted in Reiss’ tweet, Yates spent time with the Patriots in 2015 camp as part of the Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship, before cutting his teeth with Detroit as an assistant coach.
