Welcome to Kvetch of the Day, your chance to ask us your burning questions. Today we have two of them.
Reader Paul Baranofsky hasn’t liked what he’s seen from the Bruins so far this offseason. He writes:
“How do Charlie Jacobs and the Bruins justify keeping GM Don Sweeney in his role while firing a successful coach like Bruce Cassidy? Sweeney’s poor drafts especially the disaster of 2015 and free agent signings such as David Backes, Matt Belesky and Nick Foligno alone should warrant his dismissal. I believe it’s because Sweeney and Cam Neely who should also in my opinion be fired as well toe the bottom line for the Jacobs family. Put enough of an alleged competitive team on the ice so the Bruins will have a few home playoff games to fill the pockets of the greedy Jacobs family. One Stanley Cup title in 50 years of ownership is both inexcusable but disgraceful too.The Boston sports media has done a poor job of holding the Jacobs family’s ownership of the Bruins responsible for such a dreadful record.”
Bruins beat writer Steve Conroy responds: “Dear Paul, General managers and team presidents have a longer shelf life than coaches. It’s just a fact of life. I was no fan of Bruce Cassidy’s firing. He’s proven to be a good coach and he has a chance to win big in Vegas. But I always thought that after they stuck with Claude Julien a little too long, they wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on Cassidy when they sensed things were sliding the wrong way.
“The free agent signings Sweeney’s missed on that you referenced underscore the reality that size and physicality need to be drafted and developed. Those players don’t grow on trees and when they become available, the wear-and-tear on their bodies is evident. As for the drafting, the 2015 draft will live in infamy and there’s no getting around that. He did draft a No. 1 defenseman, something the organization hasn’t done since Ray Bourque, and possibly a franchise goalie in Jeremy Swayman. His teams made the playoffs the last six years. That’s with the help of Cassidy, of course, but Sweeney is the one who hired him. He’s made solid trades in acquiring talent like Taylor Hall, Hampus Lindholm and Charlie Coyle. He’d done some good things.
“As for ownership, the criticism was valid 20 years ago when it wouldn’t spend with the top tier teams like the Rangers and Red Wings. But since the implementation of the salary cap that was pushed through in the lockout of 2004-05, the Bruins have usually been a cap team. In fact, one of their issues right now is that they are too close to the cap to do much in free agency. You can have issues with how they apply the pressure from above, but ownership has generally given management the financial tools to win. And if they’re spending to the cap, why wouldn’t they want to win more than a round?”
On to the Patriots …
Jim K takes a “Trust the Process” approach to the Patriots’ coaching situation:
“Why all the negativity over Joe Judge & Matt Patricia and claiming they are not qualified? Did not the Patriots just go through 20 years of bringing guys up through the coaching ranks via succession planning and doing so almost seamlessly? They did. Coaches like Josh McDaniels and others started at the bottom ‘rung’ watching film and learning the Patriots system. Judge and Patricia both had somewhere about 8 years in the org and Judge cross-trained to be a head coach and helped out with offense. Scott Zolak said Judge was likely the guy to take over the offense when McDaniels was headed to the Colts. Judge went straight to head coach as he was deemed a rising star. So now he stinks and is not qualified and doesn’t know the Patriots offense at all – really? And BB is going to put someone in a key spot that the coach didn’t know period. Really? But that’s what were led to. 20 years of succession done like no other org… and it’s now fully broken and the evidence is what: there is none. And if someone wants to say those 2 failed as head coach, well did they fail here in NE (no), and didn’t the now cherished McDaniels fail in Denver, and didn’t he get criticized last year for handcuffing Mac Jones and now he’s glorified and Judge/Patricia are know-nothings in the Pats org? Isn’t this all drama BS with no real basis?”
Lot going on there. Patriots beat writer Andrew Callahan responds: “Two things. One: no one is claiming the organization or coaching structure is ‘fully broken.’ Two: Personally, I am giving Joe Judge and Matt Patricia a clean slate. I am doubtful they will exceed what Josh McDaniels accomplished last year with a rookie quarterback, but I am not passing judgment until we see this offense in action. Fair is fair.
“Now until then, the outside concerns over how Judge and Patricia will manage the offense are legitimate for several reasons, but let’s start here: between them, they have one season of offensive coaching experience since 2005. During that 2019 season, when Judge coached Patriots special-teamers and wide receivers, Judge had blowups at practice with his group because the wideouts felt he ‘didn’t know what he was talking about,’ according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran. When Judge was in New York the following two seasons, the Giants had the second-worst scoring offense in the league both years, averaging 17.5 and then 15.2 points per game. That’s his entire resume as an offensive coach at any level.
“As for Patricia, his Lions offenses ranked 25th, 18th and 20th in scoring, despite fielding a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback in Matthew Stafford. And Patricia’s most recent experience coaching offense was when he served as the Pats’ assistant offensive line coach during the George W. Bush administration.
“Sure, Patricia and Judge back in New England. But these are not young, moldable assistants anymore. These are old dogs learning new tricks during a crucial season for Mac Jones’ development, perhaps the most crucial. And instead of hiring experienced offensive assistants, or even just one who once worked as an offensive coordinator or quarterbacks coach, Bill Belichick turned to his old lieutenants. Because he believes Judge and Patricia, even in their rookie years as offensive coaches, can lead the Patriots offense as well as any coach available. Maybe Belichick’s belief is good enough for you, even though Belichick readily admits himself he’s wrong all the time. Me? I want proof first. Because Judge and Patricia will be learning on the fly. Just take it from Mac Jones, who said this spring he and Judge will ‘teach each other’ as they go.”
Something bugging you? Grinding your gears? Got you worked up?
We want to hear about it. And we’ll try and get you a good answer from our sports staff. We know you’re irked about … something. Hey, this is Boston. We love talking about the Bruins, Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots. There’s millions of unemployed general managers and coaches in the metaverse.
So ask away. Send your gripe or question to kvetch@bostonherald.com.
Air it out, let ‘er rip. You’ll feel better. And check in next Sunday for our response.
