NFL Notebook: Like Belichick's early days in New England, Patricia needs help from familiar faces

In this week's edition of the NFL Notebook, we handicap the Hall of Fame chances of some ex-Patriots, wonder how many passes James Develin might be capable of catching this year, and get another scouting report on new receiver Corey Coleman from a former teammate. But first, with Matt Patricia struggling in Detroit, we recall how Bill Belichick made it through some dicey early days as head coach of the Patriots in 2000 and 2001.

1. The disastrous debut of Matt Patricia in Detroit is again being used as a referendum on the Bill Belichick coaching tree. You never like to judge a coach off one game, but it's safe to say that was not the sort of start he (and the franchise as a whole) was anticipating. It’s going to be interesting to see how Patricia bounces back from what happened on Monday (both on and off the field), but when it comes to being a new head coach charged with changing the culture, it got me thinking about the early days of Belichick in New England, and some things he got right when it came to navigating some tricky waters.

I want to make this really clear off the top: Belichick doesn’t have the success that he had if Tom Brady didn’t come along. But in a lot of ways, when things were at their most tenuous in 2000 and 2001 for Belichick, the thing that got him through was the players he had built a relationship with at his previous stops who he acquired when he came to New England. These were players who he made a priority to bring with him to Foxborough because they could play, but were also capable of building positive locker room infrastructure. Guys like Anthony Pleasant, Bobby Hamilton, Roman Phifer and Otis Smith weren’t Pro Bowlers, but they were respected players who had been around Belichick before (with the Jets and Browns), and understood the level of expectation he was going to demand. When things got dicey, the younger players could turn to them for an explanation. And when you get guys like that — as well as other time-tested vets with genuine perspective like Bryan Cox and Antowain Smith — you get an environment where players want to play for that coach. That group melded with the talent already in place who had a respect for Belichick (Ty Law, Willie McGinest, Tedy Bruschi were all familiar with him when he was an assistant under Bill Parcells in New England), and helped fuel an extraordinary convergence of events.

In Detroit, Patricia did bring in some familiar faces in the offseason, most notably LeGarrette Blount. And there are some former Patriots on the roster now who are more familiar with his coaching style, including Marquis Flowers and Ricky Jean-Francois. Maybe those guys evolve into the sort of team leaders Belichick had in those early days in New England. But if they are, it feels like they need to assert themselves sooner rather than later. The 2001 Patriots had one of their first defining moments in Week 3 when one of those veterans — Cox — set the tone with an R-rated riff on Peyton Manning in the locker room and then went out and lit up Jerome Pathon on the way to a thunderous win over the Colts. It was one of the first signs that things had started to turn for that New England team. Maybe that sort of line-in-the-sand moment looms for the Lions in the next few weeks? Only time will tell.

Again, I’m under no illusion Belichick would have had the level of success he’s enjoyed if it wasn’t for Brady. And this was just one of several things went into them eventually becoming a champion. But Belichick understood the process of winning the hearts and minds of the locker room, and those savvy vets who were familiar with his coaching style helped smooth over some of those rough stretches. Facing the same sort of early-season test, the former New England DC has to hope the familiar faces he has around him now in Detroit can help do the same.