The Patriots Hire Jeremy Springer of the Rams as Their New Special Teams Coordinator After the Rams Had One of the Worst Special Teams of All Time
As the Patriots search for coaches, specifically coordinators, rolls on into it's third big week, it's begun to feel almost inevitable that sooner or later they'll hand the offense over to someone from Sean McVay's staff. His has become the trendy coaching tree which lesser teams like ours have been picking fruit from over the last few years. And the Pats seem to have given a lot of time and attention to Nick Caley and Zac Robinson from McVay's offensive staff. Given that in his seven seasons, the Rams have been to two Super Bowls, won one, and have been Top 8 in the league in offense four times, that makes sense.
But in no way could anybody have seen this one coming. Because in trying to transplant part of McVay's coaching tree, they've chosen the worst possible branch:
To be fair, Jeremy Springer was just an assistant and not the Rams special teams coordinator. That dishonor goes to Chase Blackburn. Also, Pro Football Focus did NOT give their special teams the lowest grade in the league. The Rams were only the second worst unit, behind Washington. If they had been worst, maybe the Patriots would've hired the whole of them.
And for those of you who aren't big on analytics, DVOA and PFF grades, here are the Rams actual numbers:
--Field goals made: 74.4%, 3rd lowest in the league
--Extra points made: 86.5%, 2nd lowest
--Kickoff return yards allowed: 26.9 yard average, 5th most
--Kickoff return yards: 16.1 yard average, fewest
--Punting: 39.1 yards net average, 2nd fewest
--Punt returns: 8.3 yard average, 4th fewest
You have to admit, this is a bold move by Jerod Mayo. It's not every day you see someone hiring the copilot of a plane that finished in the bottom five in every measurement the FAA has and putting him in the captain's seat. Right after a crash like the 2023 season was for him. The only logical conclusion one can reach is that Springer must have absolutlely nailed his interview with a performance for the ages. To the point that if things don't work out for him coaching in New England, he should train people in how to get prospective employers to look past all the failure on their resume and hire them anyway.
The thing of it is, the Patriots can really only do better under Spring than they've done. Believe it or not, in some of those metrics I just listed the were actually worse than LA. It's been a long time since the units Bill Belichick invested so much time, money and draft capital in were special (except in the way we all hear it in those USAA ads when Rob Gronkowski uses the word). And like I said when I listed my demands at the end of the season:
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… I wouldn't hate to see way less emphasis on the part of the roster Springer will be operating:
Stop Having So Many Special Team Specialists
The idea of dedicating roster spots to Core-4 special teamers looks pret-tay, pret-tay, pret-tay genius when it's working. When they're making a difference, giving you a competitive advantage, flipping the field, and winning you games. When you've got one of the worst units in the league and you're 4-13, it's maddening. Ask your average Pats fan to recount for you one play that Chris Board made all season. We all should be able to, because he took 406 snaps. As did Brendan Schooler. Matthew Slater belongs in the Hall of Fame. But his 377 ST-only snaps were a luxury a bad team can't afford. Mack Wilson added 312, but at least he contributes on defense as well. Going forward, keep a long snapper, a kicker, a punter, and Schooler. But train him up as a goal line defender, the way they did Nate Ebner. Mostly just recognize that the NFL has deemphasized special teams and get with the times.
Just to bottom-line it here, a strange time in the history of this franchise just got appreciably stranger with this hire. Maybe Jeremy Springer will return this unit to its former glory and it will be a positive difference maker in deep postseason runs. But right now, it doesn't seem like it makes a damn bit of sense because nothing does.