It’s no secret that there is some tension among the three most prominent figures in the Patriots’ organization: owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady. As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes, one of the sources of conflict between Belichick and Brady is the role of Brady’s personal trainer, Alex Guerrero.
Belichick, of course, wants one voice when it comes to his team’s strength and conditioning program, so he wants his players to adhere to programs established by head strength coach, Moses Cabrera, and head trainer, Jim Whalen. But by the middle of last season, approximately 30 of the Patriots’ 53 players were seeing Guerrero regularly, either in Gillette Stadium or at the TB12 facility at Patriot Place. Guerrero’s methods clash with the more traditional approaches set forth by Cabrera and Whalen, and Belichick revoked Guerrero’s special privileges after the bye week last season (although he did not ban players from seeing Guerrero).
We heard back in January that Guerrero’s presence was creating some problems in New England’s locker room, and Volin’s story provides some interesting context to those reports.
Now for more news out of Foxborough:
- Kraft is not concerned about extending Brady’s contract, and Volin notes that there is no reason for the team to do so at this point. Brady is under club control through the 2019 campaign, and his cap number of $22MM is reasonable given his ability, importance to the franchise, and the quarterback market.
- For the second consecutive year, Brady is unlikely to be present for the first day of the Patriots’ offseason program, per Volin, which is somewhat curious given that he has been a “devout offseason participant” in prior years. But as Brady’s absence is tied to his appearance as a Best Buddies Global Ambassador in Qatar, Volin is not putting much stock in it until Brady starts to miss more time. Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says Belichick “went out of his way” to hint that he and Brady have at least one talk in that regard. Belichick said, “[The offseason program] will be heavily attended, but I know there are a couple players that I’ve talked to that have other commitments, but that’s the way it always is. So, not really anything new there.”
- Volin says the Pats do have the ammunition to move up in the draft to select one of this year’s top signal-callers if they want to, though it remains more likely that they will stand pat.
- In the same piece linked above, Reiss reports that the Patriots have hired Cameron Achord as an assistant coach. Achord has ties to special teams coach Joe Judge, and he has already been on the scouting trail on behalf of the Patriots.
- It was previously reported that Brady was a big reason for Jordan Matthews‘ decision to sign with the Patriots, but as Reiss notes, Matthews was impressed with the organization as a whole. Matthews said, “There was a lot of intentionality during the visit. They were very detailed. They were very specific with me on what they thought about me and areas they thought I could grow. I appreciated that more than anything. I appreciated that type of honesty.”
- We learned yesterday that the Patriots did not come close to matching the two-year, $12MM deal that Danny Amendola signed with the Dolphins, which made Amendola’s decision to leave New England a little easier.
If 30 players are seeing Guerrero doesn’t that suggest he can deliver positive results? It’s dopey to ban a guy because your regular staff guys aren’t cutting the mustard. Belichick is always saying that doing what is best for the team is his only concern but it looks like his ego is getting in the way on this one.
I think Belichick has a much better track record than a private fitness coach. Players not following the leadership of the coach, is a red flag.
Belichick doesn’t have any expertise in sports medicine. He’s accepting the opinion of his own staff guys that this Guerrero is not good but the players who are being treated know better. If he wants to be bullheaded about this he will end up with disgruntled players with more health issues than necessary. How is that going to improve his track record?
Aren’t off season workouts “voluntary?”
Given how great Brady and the rest of the players who see Guerrero are doing, perhaps all the Patriots should start listening to Guerrero. You can make fun of his techniques all you want, but if you watch Brady vs Time, you can see what Guerrero is doing and how it works. Playability, proper foods, etc.
I’m with you on this one brad. The danger that comes with being successful is that your thinking becomes entrenched in the same idea over and over. Eventually someone else who is willing to think outside the box makes your ideas seem obsolete.
Comparing Belichick and Guerrero’s ideas is a bit like comparing an original Blackberry to the new I-Phone. Which would you prefer?