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A Clare Retrospective – Four years at Pats Propaganda!

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Four years ago today, with the world a little bit of a different place, my first article for the Pats Propaganda blog site hit the Internet. 

The landscape of my content producing journey has change significantly over that time, and what we have gone through as a Patriots fan even more so!

Whilst in those four years I maintained my Patriots podcast “A Clare Perspective” and welcomed in many outstanding guests: from the wit of Nick “Fitzy” Stevens, the experience and sheer legendariness that is Paul Perillo, Tom E. Curran, and John Rooke, the epic smarts of Evan Lazar, Alex Barth, and Phil Perry, the pure unadulterated fun of Andy Hart, the dashingness that is Mike Giardi, the diehard fan to media superstar Mike “Deuce” Dussault, Barstool’s very own Jerry Thornton, to the goddesses of sports media Karen Guregian, Erica Tamposi, and Alexandra Francisco…as the Patriots went through a lot more.. alterations. 

Over the time, I did a stint as a co-host on One Patriots Place, the long standing Patriots podcast, and guested on an array of different shows, in particular, Locked On Patriots. I continued my campaign of attempting to be known for my knowledge of tight ends, as well as growing as a writer, thus moving into the role at Pats Propaganda. With the help of my friend and previously lovely assistant, diehard Boston sports fan Chudders from Manchester, we kicked off the first Pats Propaganda YouTube show Pats Procrastination. Originally designed as a game recap vlog, the show has now been going for 55* (at the time of writing this) episodes and covers all off season Patriots topics, as well as the in-season game recap coverage. 

In 2024, I celebrated the 100th episode of ACP (A Clare Perspective) and managed to nab time with the amazing Mike Reiss (even Paul Perillo gave that one the nod of approval!). 

And so that’s me you lovely lot, let’s delve into the more important changing picture of the New England Patriots. 

2021 

Here we start with THE biggest thing for the Pats in 2021, and that’s March 18th 2021, one Bill Belichick traded away tight end Ryan Izzo to the Houston Texans for a 7th round draft pick…

Okay, okay chill those briefs, obviously whilst devastating news for me, this was not the big thing of 2021, but the selection of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones 15th overall in the 2021 NFL draft was. 

With Tom Brady leaving the Patriots in 2019, and the 15 starts of 16 games by Cam Newton in that wonky 2020 COVID season, 2021 was the QB refresh button hitting time, potentially. 

Kicker Quinn Nordin and his big leg kept the undrafted rookie streak going, not with much significance, but still the streak lived on!

The 2021 defense retained Dont’a Hightower and Kyle Van Noy, and the offense made expensive splashy established signings in free agency with Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith. 

So whilst ACP covered episodes 1 to 22, the Pats went 10 – 7 in Mac Jones’s first season and Josh McDaniels last. 

2021 also saw the NFL move to a 17 game regular season schedule as well as year two of repercussions from the COVID virus outbreak, and extensive modifications to the jersey numbering system. 

There was the Goff-Stafford swircheroo, the firing of Urban Meyer from the Jaguars as well as the retirement of two QB icons of Phillip Rivers and Drew Brees, 

Oh, and the great Dan Campbell finished his first year as Detroit’s head coach 3-13-1. 

2022

Mac Jones’s second year was a year of frustration for the rookie quarterback and the rest of Patriots Nation. 

We entered the era of the Matt Patricia offense, that crazily included him coaching the offensive line and Joe Judge as quarterbacks coach. 

Bill Belichick flipped the 21st pick in the 2022 NFL draft for multiple picks and selected Cole Strange at 29. 

Week 15 against the Las Vegas Raiders saw a game that should not only have the ball burnt, but the ashes buried, and an exorcism undertaken at the burial site. 

However! Cornerback Marcus Jones made waves scoring a touchdown on his first offensive snap, and became the fourth player in NFL history to score a touchdown on a punt return, reception and interception return in the same season. 

This year also saw James White retire and finally the release of the two drafted tight ends, Dalton Keene and Devin Asiasi that many of us had hope for but weren’t fully convinced on. 

So whilst ACP covered episodes 23 to 52, the Pats went 8 – 9 in their first, and last, defensive guy is the offensive co-ordinator, season. 

Around the NFL in 2022, had the Rooney Rule was expanded to include women, regardless of racial or ethnic background, had the first Super Bowl a set of brothers played against one another in, and saw the shocking scenes of Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills suffer a cardiac arrest on field in a week 17 Monday night match up against the Cincinnati Bengals. 

2023

Matt Patricia was out, and Bill O’Brien returned! The Patriots secured an offensive guy to be the offensive co-ordinator, brought in past Patriots player Adrian Klemm as the offensive line coach as well as some offensive players with recognisable names such as JuJu Smith-Schuster and Ezikiel Elliot, as well as signing tight end Mike Gesicki. 

The back office managed to win big on trading Jonnu Smith and his significant contract hit to the Atlanta Falcons for a 7th round draft pick and to many people’s dismay kicker Nick Folk headed to the Titans for another 7th rounder. 

September 2023 saw Jack Jones arrested at Logan airport for having firearms in his carry-on luggage, and eventually the cornerback was released following a tumultuous season. 

The year saw Matthew Slater play his last season with the team before retiring, and the first 4 -13 Patriots fans had seen in a while!

But the season wasn’t a total wash with the Patriots “winning” the 2023 NFL draft by trading with the Pittsburg Steelers, swapping 14th for 17th (plus other picks) and stealing (ha, do you like what I did there?) Christian Gonzalez. 

News from the NFL that year had Tom Brady retire, for good this time, apparently, a Patriots game in Germany, and 19 minutes after leading his new team the New York Jets onto the field in New Jersey carrying an American flag, Aaron Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles, and was out for the season. An Achilles snap on just his fourth snap post Green Bay.

2024

Jerod Mayo was hired as the Patriots new head coach, and he brought in Alex Van Pelt to run the offense with Ben McAdoo, T.C. McCartney, Scott Peters, and others. 

The Patriots selected North Carolina stud Drake Maye at third overall in the 2024 NFL draft and the franchise was ready to begin again…almost. 

In the first season since 1999 without Bill Belichick, the Patriots did not hold a very winning record at 4 -13, again. However, they did head over to London to play an international game that was my very first game at Wembley Stadium, but unfortunately a 16-32 loss. 

Mike Gesicki was out and Auston Hooper was in, and although this tight end fan was devastated, she was also curious. And in fact, ended up being rather happy as Hooper integrated with the rookie QB and the existing sturdy veteran tight end of Hunter Henry really rather well and had quite a successful season considering. 

Whilst 2024 saw further teething pains from the offense, the defense seemed to be on even more of a downward spiral with Patriots fans clinging to the fact that we have Maye and Gonzo, so the only way is up baby!

2024 had two NFL games on Christmas Day, the hip drop tackle was made illegal, being penalised as a personal foul, Tom Brady begin his broadcasting career as Fox’s lead colour analyst, and the Eagles saw an end to a Kansas City three-peat by giving us an entertaining Super Bowl and smashing the Kansas City Chiefs 40-22.

And so here we are folks, 2025.

Episode 106 of A Clare Perspective dropped January 9th, the four year anniversary of the podcast was celebrated February 23rd, and the next episode as I type this should be 110!

But much more importantly as I celebrate my four years here at Pats Propaganda I can look to the future, and it’s bright, folks! For on January 13th 2025, Mike Vrabel was introduced as the Head Coach of the New England Patriots (https://www.patspropaganda.com/the-vrabel-era-has-begun-and-so-what-do-the-fans-think/). 

And so the rest, as they say, is going to be history. Here’s to many more years, Pats Nation! I raise my coffee cup to all of you for being there on this mammoth media ride with me. A huge thank you for all the time invested in partaking in my work, all the support and kind words I have received, all the fun I have had and all the joy I hope I have given, as I have definitely received it back in buckets. 

Much love to you all, and as always…Go Pats!

Tight Endage!! Unisex T-Shirt

Succession Planning: Who takes over as coach after Bill Belichick?

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Source: sgbonline.com

In an ideal world Bill Belichick would continue to coach forever. The man is in my humble opinion the greatest to ever roam the sideline in any professional sport. Not only does he hold an incredible career as a head coach, but he also doubles as a Hall of Fame caliber General Manager. Some things only live as dreams and with Bill Belichick now being 69 years young he is at the tail end of his career. Including this season, I think he has 3 to 5 years left in him to chase Don Shula’s all time win record of 328. Bill currently sits at 280 wins and if he averages 10 or so wins per season this should get him there. I believe that he cares about breaking the record before hanging them up and will stick around to do so. It is the last remaining accomplishment to cap off a historic career.

There is also another aspect of continuing to coach into his early 70s that is not talked about enough. Not only does he get to do what he loves and is great at every single day, but also he gets to do it with his two sons. Brian and Stephen both serve on the Patriots coaching staff as the Safeties Coach and Outside Linebackers Coach respectively. This has turned into a family business of which is located in the area that all of his family lives. Even more reason for him to stick around.

With that being said, succeeding Bill Belichick as Head Coach of the New England Patriots is an impossible task. Similarly to following up Brady at Quarterback there is just no one that can ever live up to what they accomplished. Being the second person to succeed him after the first one is relieved of their duties, sure. However, being the first is a death sentence from the start.

Let us take a look at some potential suitors:

Josh McDaniels

This is probably the second most likely scenario but I truly do not think Josh sticks around long enough to see this play out. Every year his name is tossed around as a potential head coaching candidate. He still has some stank to him from the whole Indianapolis Colts debacle, but his resume speaks for himself and every passing season is another mile between his prior blunders (Broncos HC and Colts Houdini). When Josh wants another chance at the driver’s seat then he will have options to choose from. I suspect Josh hangs around for 1-3 more years (this season included). If for some reason the Patriots job becomes available during that frame then that is a different story.

A less likely possibility, but one still worth mentioning is that Bill steps aside as either Coach or GM to focus solely on the other role. Josh picks up whatever one Bill steps away from.

Matt Patricia

I truly have no confidence for Matt Patricia being a head coach. Some people are just made to be coordinators and are very good at it. There is no shame with that. Nothing that I have read from players, coaches, or management regarding Patricia in Detroit is good.

I foresee Patricia sticking in New England as an Ernie Adams type assassin. The man knows New England’s system very well and is a game planner. He will use his rocket science collegiate studies to dissect film of offensive and defensive game plans of future opponents. This will parlay nicely into finding NFL draft picks that fit what the Patriots do. Pencil in Patricia as the new Ernie. It seems as though Bill and Matt have a friendship off the field as well and genuinely enjoy working together. This should help Matt’s case to sticking around for at least the next 2-4 years (this season included) and potentially beyond.

Jerod Mayo

Jerod Mayo is the next Brian Flores. The man is a stud and a hot name as far as future head coaches go in the NFL. All of the Patriots players have rave reviews of Mayo. I think Jerod gets head coaching interviews at the conclusion of this season. He could opt to stick around if nothing tickles his fancy, but I think we only see Mayo on the New England sideline for one additional season after this year at most before he gets his shot.

Bill O’Brien / Brian Flores / Joe Judge / Mike Vrabel / Another former assistant from the Patriots system

It is likely that one of the former Patriots assistants is looking for work when Bill is thinking of stepping down. I do not necessarily think that any of them made a drastic impact or were here long enough to be considered a top-level candidate for the future opening. It all depends how their coaching careers develop between now and then but I would not expect any of these names to be the successor.

Other former assistants left off this list for obvious reasons:

Saban – He dies in Tuscaloosa

Romeo Crennel – Too old

Eric Mangini – No chance

Jim Schwartz – No chance

Outside candidates not listed

Always a possibility, but the New England Patriots is a tight knit family from top to bottom. I think for this important of a role they stay within the circle of trust.

Brian Belichick / Steve Belichick

This is where the future lies and is my pick as the most likely succession plan to Bill Belichick. As I stated earlier, the Patriots is a family business. The most likely succession plan with family businesses is to pass them down to the next generation. This will also motivate Bill to keep the franchise in pristine condition before he hands over the keys. Also, this will hinder either son from leaving the Patriots until their Father retires. I believe that Bill wishes he could have coached alongside his own father, also named Steve Belichick, but is now getting to live out a different side of that dream by coaching alongside both of his sons.

Steve will be the head coach due to his experience and high praise from Patriots defenders. The oldest son will get the reigns while Brian transitions to a co-head coaching role or coordinator position. The two will work in tandem in an attempt to create the next Patriots dynasty.

Bill does not strike me as the type to sit on the beaches of Florida for 10 months out of the year sipping daiquiris and enjoying retirement. The man quite literally eats and breathes football. He needs football just as much as football needs him. I fully expect him to be around the Patriots for 3 to 5 more years before he retires.

We’re On To The Patriots

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Big news! This past week I signed on to be a Content Producer for Patriots.com. Yes, THE Patriots. After nine years of PatsPropaganda and 12 seasons blogging Pats, I’m going to work in the mothership.

It’s as surreal for me as you can imagine it might be. When I look back on how it all started it’s crazy the way it all came together. A few days later and it’s still just slowly sinking in. I’m grateful to Fred Kirsch for giving me a shot. I can’t wait to jump in and put all my Pats passion into the team full time, in all the ways I’ve been trying to do for the past decade.

After making the announcement on Twitter, the outpouring of support was overwhelming. I so appreciate the people who have been reading my stuff since the start and supporting my work. Thank you! You are why I did it and why I could never stop.

Many of you know exactly how long I’ve been at this and that makes it extra special to share it with you, along with my family.

The good news is that you’re a fan of this blog then you’re going to get more of my kind of content. And instead of doing it during slow periods around the office or in-between all-nighter video shoots, I’ll be focusing all my time and energy on it.

All of my wildest Patriots dreams are coming true and I hope to use it to make great stuff you will all enjoy!

There will be just another post or two here but starting Monday you will find all my content at Patriots.com. Yes, I’m sitting on all my camp-related observations until they explode.

LFG

A Look Back: The Fan Journey of Super Bowl 51

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On Saturdays I try to take a historical look back at the matchup the Patriots will be facing tomorrow. Obviously there’s one big game on everyone’s mind in Pats-Falcons history, so it’s a good chance to remember how crazy it was to live through that game.

For the Patriots, it was maybe their ultimate moment. An impossible comeback that sealed their greatness for even their most ardent doubters and haters. If you can’t at least look at that game and put aside all the conspiracy theories you’re not truly a football fan.

Usually football games don’t really impact us any more than we let them. It all depends on how invested you allow yourself to be. But for me personally, Super Bowl 51 impacted my life in a very real way that ultimately was in large part responsible for 2017 being a life-changing year for me.

For that, no sporting event will ever compare to Super Bowl 51. I’m still wrapping my head around it even eight months later to be honest.

 

Let’s start with how we all felt when the score was actually 28-3, when it seemed almost assured that the Pats were about to lose their third Super Bowl in ten years.

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Today Patshow #102!

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Very excited today as we will be shooting episode number two of Patshow — a new Facebook live show with yours truly alongside the hardest working man in Boston, Nick Stevens aka “Fitzy” and WAAF’s Matty and Nick show.

Keep an eye out around 11am EST, when we’re aiming to go live.

You might’ve caught episode one, we purposely kept it a bit quiet as we worked out the bugs. But it went far better than we hoped and now we’re thrilled to ramp Patshow up.

The plan is to make Patshow a bi-weekly event, a recap show on Mondays and a preview show on Fridays. But it will be so much more than just me and Nick talking Pats. We’re going to put the full might of our creative skills behind Patshow, including digital shorts, sketches and tons of other fun things that I can’t wait to share.

I promise there is nothing else out there like this and our aim is to make being a fan fun again. We’re not going to spew angry hot takes at you. We’re going to take down those hot takes with smart analysis and the kind of entertainment that embraces being a fan.

The creative team behind Patshow is second-to-none. We’ve partnered with Ian Barrett, Erin Hayes and Paul Bouley of MediaBoss in Framingham to deliver a polished production that looks like it belongs on real television. MediaBoss can do everything — remote location shoots, green screen, etc. and we hope to utilize all their talents in helping us create Patshow.

So run now and like our Facebook page and our Twitter handle. Pencil in episode #103 comong Monday, August 28 before we start banging them out twice a week.

Thanks for tuning in and spreading the word to your Pats pals!

Blogging Reflections on the 2007 Pats

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNVN5TePlyA

A couple really good and long pieces reflecting upon the 2007 Patriots popped up yesterday — one from The Ringer’s Kevin Clark, the other from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. I suggest you check both out, assuming you’ve gotten over 18-1 in the last 10 years. I know I have, two Super Bowl wins certainly helped.

I thought it was a good chance to do some reflecting myself, without getting into the nitty gritty that Clark and Barnwell do, instead focusing more on what it was like to be a Patriots fan that season, and how that season gave birth to the very blog you’re reading right now.

I can’t talk about 2007 without first talking about 2006. 2006 was the year I truly became Pats obsessed. I think it was because they lost their first playoff game in Denver that year and suddenly it dawned on me that Brady-Belichick had a long road ahead of them, but a finite number chances to win more Super Bowls.

So in 2006, I made my first trip back home to see them live, hitting up the opener against the Bills. My sister Mary and I were so excited to get down to Foxboro we ended up in an empty parking lot just as the gates opened with nothing more than a case of beer and a tennis ball. Still, it was a glorious day that saw the Bills score a touchdown before we even made it to our nosebleed seats.

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State of the Blog

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With the opening of training camp just a couple days away I wanted to take a brief moment to update you all on what to expect this coming season here at PatsPropaganda because, well, things are about to get real.

It’s been an insane 2017 for me. My family and I moved back to Massachusetts from California and now as I type this I’m sitting in our new place, a stone’s throw from Gillette Stadium. Going to Patriots games was always my annual pilgrimage home and Gillette was such a magical place to me.

Now I’m there multiple times a week, doing grocery shopping, going to movies and grabbing food. That has been surreal. But obviously it’s been so cool to be back amongst my peeps, especially when I’m randomly running into people wearing my 28-3 tee (which was largely responsible for making the move happen).

The move itself is quite the story, the lowlight of which was tearing my MCL which I’ve been dealing with the last month. After years of writing about knee injuries it’s not fun to see what they really feel like. And let’s just saying assembling new furniture and lifting moving boxes isn’t easy when your knee can give out at any moment. Luckily it’s healing and I should be off the PUP list shortly.

I drove cross country with my Dad, which included stops at Notre Dame to see Football Jesus and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Canton was pretty cool, but the best part was the Super Bowl 51 movie they were showing which was so well done. Of all the summers we picked to stop at the Hall of Fame this was the best one. The movie was intense, with a huge screen and glaring sound. I’ve never experienced a football game like that, and there isn’t another game in the history of football I would’ve picked. Chills. SO. MANY. CHILLS.

But the most exciting part is that the site is about to take some major steps forward. This starts with the Patriots graciously credentialing me for some training camp practices this summer, starting this Sunday. But regardless of the credential, I’m going to be at a shit ton of camp practices, which means the access here is about to take a big leap forward.

Not being able to see training camp was one of the biggest disadvantages for the blog. I prefer to see things with my own eyes and do my own analysis, but by not being at camp I had to rely on the consensus of the camp reports. No more. Now I’ll be there and posting all my own analysis from camp almost every day. And on the days I’m credentialed I’ll get an even closer look and get to actually talk to some of the coaches and players that I’m writing about. It will be such a new experience for me and one that I’m so excited to tackle.

The second new twist for the blog will be more video. Yes, I know a lot of sites are going in this direction but with my background in television (what paid the bills for the last decade while I developed my Patriots blogging) the time has come to merge the two. I will never stop writing and that will still be the driving force behind the blog, but now I’ll be able to supplement it with video. Look for the first one this week from Day One of camp.

There’s even more in the works as far as video goes, something pretty huge, but I’ll save that announcement for the next couple weeks.

That’s it for now. It’s hard to express how exciting it is to be back home, and to be able to focus on the site like this, especially with the Patriots primed for another kickass season. Stay tuned, it’s all happening.