Unsurprisingly after last year’s debacle, coaching was at the forefront of conversation Monday when New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft met with the media at the NFL Annual Meeting.

Things didn’t go well with former NFL head coaches Matt Patricia (a defensive specialist) and Joe Judge (a special teams specialist) heading up the offense with help from Belichick during the 2022 season. So, New England hired another ex-head coach — this one with plenty of experience running an offense — in Bill O’Brien to serve as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this offseason. They also brought on a former Belichick draft pick in Adrian Klemm to coach the offensive line.

The offense should be in better shape by those hires alone, and it puts the status of Patricia, who was a senior advisor/offensive line coach/de-facto offensive coordinator, in doubt.

“Not sure” was Belichick’s response when asked if Patricia would be working for the Patriots in 2023.

“In life, it’s important to know what you don’t know, and then get the best people,” Kraft said about Patricia and his offensive role in 2022. “I’m in no position to know whether going in, that’s the right thing. He’s a very good guy. Very smart. An engineer. Works hard. I think he got put in a difficult position and I think it was sort of an experiment. He worked very hard at it. In retrospect, I don’t think it was the right thing. And I feel bad for him because he’s such a hard worker. He got put in a difficult position.”

Kraft said O’Brien, also a former Patriots offensive coordinator, was “at the top of (his) list" of offensive coordinator options.

“So, I was really happy,” Kraft said about the hire.

Belichick was less outwardly verbose discussing O’Brien.

“I thought it was the best thing for the team,” he said.

Why?

“It was a number of reasons.”

Name one?

“I have a good relationship with Bill. We go back a ways.”

Belichick said he would “talk about staff later in the spring” when asked about Judge’s role this season. It’s been reported that Judge will serve in an assistant head coaching role with duties in the front office and on special teams. Belichick said he didn’t know if linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, who was convinced to stick in New England this offseason, will have an additional title in 2023.

“Jerod is an individual who I think there is no ceiling on his ability to grow and how competent he is,” Kraft said. “We had the privilege of having him as a player. I saw how intense he was, and his leadership skills he had on the field. And then saw him leave us and go into private industry and learn the Xs and Os of the business — and then come back and be a coach, and do that with us. Good coaches get hired away, so I was happy we were able to sit with him and try to keep him here long-term. I’m going to do everything I can to make that happen.

“There’s no ceiling on his ability to be a head coach, and he’ll be a head coach,” Kraft continued. I’m sure of that. I hope he’s with us. We’ll see what happens.”

Belichick wouldn’t discuss the role of Will Lawing, a new member of the coaching staff. He’s confident in Klemm’s ability, though.

“I think he’ll do a good job for us,” Belichick said. “Smart guy. … Really good understanding of some of the more complex things on the offensive line. I think he’s performed well in his coaching positions at various spots.”

Belichick also explained why Cam Achord stuck as special teams coordinator despite New England’s special teams ranking 32nd in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric last season.

“Last year was last year; there were a lot of things that weren’t good enough,” Belichick said. “Good coach. Led the league in special teams in ’20. I don’t think that’s the problem.”

The Patriots reloaded on special teams, signing linebacker Chris Board and punter Corliss Waitman and retaining Matthew Slater, Cody Davis, Mack Wilson, Raekwon McMillan and Jabrill Peppers.

Finally, Kraft gave Belichick a stamp of approval with a slight caveat.

“I think Bill is exceptional at what he does,” Kraft said. “I’ve given him the freedom to make choices and do the things that need to be done. His football intellect and knowledge is unparalleled from what I’ve seen. When you talk to him, there’s small things, analytically, that he looks at. But in the end, this is a business — you either execute and win, or you don’t. That’s where we’re at. I think we’re in a transition phase. I think we’ve made some moves this year that I personally am comfortable with. And I still believe in Bill.”

We'll see what happens if the Patriots don't execute in 2023. They haven't won a playoff game since 2018.