Who ought to be the Patriots’ front-office head? Ex-NFL GM provides insight

With the announcement that Jerod Mayo will take over as head coach in place of Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots got off to a great start in the offseason.

They still have a lot of work ahead of them, though, starting with selecting a general manager.

Earlier in the month, our Phil Perry revealed that the Patriots are not anticipated to appoint an outside general manager, and that both director of scouting Eliot Wolf and director of player personnel Matt Groh may hold “prominent” positions within New England’s personnel department. But rather than dividing those duties, would the Patriots be better suited with a single official general manager who had “final say”?

In a recent Patriots Talk Podcast, Mark Dominik—who worked with the Buccaneers for 16 years, five of those as general manager of Tampa Bay—joined Tom E. Curran and discussed the value of having a clear hierarchy in the organization.

“I think that would be excessive,” Dominik remarked in reference to a scenario in which Groh and Wolf work together as co-GMs. “I believe that would need to be established in private: You might call it collaborative, but we all know who really has the last say.

“… It’d be interesting to see how it plays out, but I think that would be too many people in the kitchen.”

So in New England, who should have the last say? That might depend on Belichick’s final destination; if Belichick is hired as the Falcons head coach, Groh might decide to follow his former colleague to Atlanta. Is Wolf the best candidate for the GM position if that’s the case?

Between 2004 and 2017, Dominik got to know Wolf while he was working in the front office of the Green Bay Packers, and he thinks he has the right resume for the position of general manager. For Dominik, however, it all boils down to Wolf’s bond with Mayo.

“He has witnessed numerous championships. Dominik remarked of Wolf, “He’s been exposed to a lot of different ways to do things.” “He grew up with perhaps the greatest coach of all time, Bill Belichick, and his father, former Packers general manager Ron Wolf, was undoubtedly one of the greatest general managers of all time. Therefore, I believe Eliot has a great deal of expertise, making him a strong candidate for the position.

“Having two individuals from within would be an intriguing approach. What really matters to me is how their relationship was during their time in the building. Here’s where I would say to Coach Mayo, ‘I don’t want you to have somebody just because he’s in the building and it’s cozy. Were you fond of him? Did you guys work together? Have you had a conversation?

When Raheem Morris was named to head coach in 2009, Dominik and Morris got along great because of their tight relationship from their days together in Tampa Bay. Dominik believes that if Mayo and Wolf get along well, then Wolf would be a fantastic fit at General Motors.

Even before he was named head coach and I was named general manager, he would simply stop by my office. Dominik stated about Morrris, “We would just hang out and talk.” We simply had a really casual and organic conversation. He was aware of how comfortable coming into the office was for him, and that made us extremely close. We were therefore relieved to know that we would get along well with one another.

The question I would ask Coach Mayo is, “How many times did you genuinely have one-on-one, purposeful conversations with Eliot?” He has certainly been around the facility, and the Kraft family has a decent idea of him, so if that feels like a nice fit, that would be cozy.”