Former Patriots running back Damien Harris stated that the team felt the “debacle” of an offense under Matt Patricia and Joe Judge was destined to fail even before the 2022 season started. Harris played for the team from 2019 to 2022.
Being the first offensive player from that 2022 squad to openly disclose how terrible things went, Harris gave his explanation on why he was not shocked that Bill Belichick did not get hired as a coach following his departure from the Pats in a 70-minute conversation with Robert Mays on “The Athletic Football Show.”
Following Belichick’s selection of Patricia and Judge, two offensive coordinators with limited experience, to lead the Patriots’ 2022 offense, Harris claimed it appeared the new offensive coordinators were simply pulling plays from Madden without any thought given to how to put together a playbook. According to Harris, they completely reworded the few plays from the 2021 playbook that they did retain.
“We knew before our first game we knew during training camp,” Harris spoke of a moment when the club thought the offense might collapse, despite finishing sixth in points scored the year before under Josh McDaniels’ direction.
New Athletic Football Show!
Damien Harris (@DHx34) joins the show for a great discussion on the state of the RB market, Belichick’s uncertain future, and what it was really like on the Matt Patricia-Joe Judge Patriots offense.
Fantastic conversation. https://t.co/rUrDPn6kpH
— Robert Mays (@robertmays) June 6, 2024
Naturally, none of this or the difficulties that followed is really shocking. It is commonly known that Belichick’s 2022 offensive coaching staff decisions infuriated players, and that Patricia and Judge’s choices ultimately destroyed the offense.
Even yet, hearing it described so vividly by a player who was present is still fascinating.
According to Harris, offensive leaders met to discuss how to address their issues with Belichick. However, it did not seem like those were heard.
“If anybody had anything to say about it,” Harris said, “it was (met with) a very, very quick, swift, ‘Shut the f— up. I know what I’m doing.’ And that’s it.’”
Harris frequently complimented Belichick, stating that he enjoyed playing for him. The 2022 offense and the enormous amount of authority Belichick accumulated during all of his success were the main sources of his concerns. Because he could discuss issues with people other than the head coach and general manager, Harris said he felt as like he was “on a different planet” when he traveled to Buffalo a year ago to play for the Bills.
This mindset further explained Harris’s statement that he was not shocked Belichick was not hired as a head coach.
“I’m not saying that to say anything bad about Bill Belichick, but I just wasn’t surprised because he’s been in one place for so long,” Harris said. “And I think that just at the stage of his career that he’s in, I think that what he was expecting to be handed to him versus what people were willing to give him — in retrospect, I think that maybe they just didn’t align.
“That’s something that I could have seen coming because, you know, Bill was the head coach, Bill was the GM, Bill was damn near the offensive coordinator, damn near the defensive coordinator, damn near the special teams coordinator, damn near this, damn near that. And you know, if he was going to go coach for another team, it would have probably just been head coach.”
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
