Tag: Ernie Adams

Ernie Adams reflects upon his unique relationship with Bill Belichick

“We’ve been having a football conversation for 50 years.”

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Ernie Adams and Bill Belichick were among the two longest-standing members of the New England Patriots staff until Adams retired after the 2020 season. The two have a unique rapport with their relationship spanning all the way back to their days at Phillips Andover Academy.

With all that time spent together, including years of professional work in complement to their friendship, they have a unique relationship.

“We’ve been having a football conversation for 50 years. At the Giants, we’d go for long runs together,” Adams said on the “Past Pats” podcast. “We can do a lot of things very quickly because we have some common reference points. Something that happened in Cleveland in 1993, nobody else on the face of planet earth will remember but, ‘Hey Bill remember what we did in Cleveland, this really worked in this situation.’ … We can make big changes in a hurry because we’ve spent so much time talking, we know what each other are talking about.”

Surely, Belichick sorely misses his best friend and one of his most trusted advisors, from team building to in-game decision-making.

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Ernie Adams shares what he remembers about Tom Brady’s rise in 2001

“Tom would jump on a receiver for cutting his route off at nine yards instead of 12 yards because it’s doing all the little things.”

Ernie Adams was there — perhaps even in the draft room — when the New England Patriots drafted quarterback Tom Brady. Adams, former football research director for the Patriots, watched Brady’s career evolve in New England from start to finish. So he has a unique perspective on the quarterback’s two decades with the Patriots.

During an interview on the “Past Pats” podcast, Adams reflected upon Brady’s first two seasons with New England when he rose from fourth-stringer to starter and supplanted Drew Bledsoe.

“I don’t know if that it was one specific play but as we started playing in 2001, Tom just got better every week,” Adams said. “The team responded well. He was doing well. I think it was more of a process than one play. Being realistic about it we knew after the 2001 season that Tom was going to be our quarterback. We weren’t going to have Drew here as our backup. That realistically was not going to happen.”

Adams shared a more specific example.

“Tom would jump on a receiver for cutting his route off at nine yards instead of 12 yards because it’s doing all the little things, it’s all the details every day. You have to do it and get it right,” Adams said. “Because when you get down to those critical situations in the championship game where you got the whole season riding on one play, it’s the ability to execute the fundamentals just right that makes the difference.”

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Patriots pull Ernie Adams out of retirement to help with schedule release

Here’s a video of Ernie Adams discussing every game from the Patriots’ 2022 schedule release.

Former New England Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams took some time out of his retirement to help the team with the schedule release on Thursday. Adams, a mystery man who seemed keey to the Patriots’ longstanding successes, joined the Patriots digital team to walk fans through the entirety of the schedule release.

In the video posted a 8 p.m. on the night of the schedule release, Adams discusses all 17 games to come in the 2022 season. It’s pretty entertaining to hear the quirky former director of football research share a few thoughts on every one of the Patriots’ matchups. Check it out.

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Tre Nixon discusses special moment with Ernie Adams following draft night

“I’m in his debt. I owe him a lot. I really respect that dude.”

Tre Nixon is one of the New England Patriots’ more special draft picks in recent years.

The UCF wide receiver was hand-picked by Ernie Adams in the seventh round at pick No. 242 this year. Adams, 68, announced it would be his last draft after spending the last 20 years as the research director for the Patriots. Nixon was Adams’ parting gift and it left a significant impact from every angle.

While speaking with reporters following Thursday’s OTA session, Nixon discussed the special moment in April.

“Still to this day, I get chills going back and watching that video,” Nixon said, transcribed by WEEI. “It’s funny because Ernie, the day 1 when I reported here, he was one of the first people I saw in the building. So, I instantly smiled, introduced myself, he introduced his self and ever since then, I’m in his debt. I owe him a lot. I really respect that dude.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wynqMhuDb78&feature=emb_title

When it comes to the transition to the NFL, Nixon said his head has been spinning. He dove a little deeper and broke down the influential people he’s been around so far in Foxborough.

“It’s definitely different from college. I’ll tell you that,” Nixon said. “More complex but with the teammates and coaches I have, the veterans, Mac (Jones), Cam (Newton), (Jarrett) Stidham, I feel like they’ve done a really good job with helping me catch up to speed, because one of the biggest things they say is you don’t want to get left behind. So, I’ve got to stay ahead, and guys are doing a good job pushing me and getting all of the knowledge I can.”

Nixon has a long road ahead this offseason, but he could be the next late-round pick to grind his way to the 53-man roster.

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Former Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams doesn’t seem to be taking retirement seriously

It seems Adams isn’t QUITE ready to retire.

New England Patriots director of football research Ernie Adams retired this offseason. But … did he really?

Because his retirement doesn’t look all that different from his employment. He was on the field during the Patriots’ session of organized team activities on Thursday, their third voluntary workout of the offseason. And Adams was in his normal spots, wandering around the field and arriving often at the side of Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Surely, Adams will step away for good. But at this point, it doesn’t seem like he’s quite ready to quit football completely.

Adams is a somewhat mysterious figure in New England’s organization, with a wide array of duties, including the power to help Belichick during the draft and a direct line of communication with Belichick during games.

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Ernie Adams personally chooses final Patriots pick in 2021 NFL Draft

Ernie Adams personally chose the Patriots’ final pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

The legendary Ernie Adams, 68, just partook in his final NFL draft after spending four decades in the league.

Bill Belichick said it was Adams’ last draft but didn’t explicitly say he was retiring quite yet. Adams spent nearly 25 years floating around as an assistant coach and assumed his research director role in 2000 when Belichick became head coach of the New England Patriots. As the Boston Globe’s Jim McBride reported, Belichick said Adams has “literally been involved in every single aspect of the football program at every level.”

Because of this respect, Belichick allowed Adams to personally choose the Patriots’ final pick of the draft in the seventh round. He chose the first wide receiver in the team’s draft with UCF’s Tre Nixon at pick No. 242.

Belichick gave a speech before the pick to informally praise Adams.

“I just want to take a moment to recognize Ernie,” Belichick said, transcribed by NESN. “We’ll do this at a more formal time later, but Ernie’s career, especially in the draft room, is legendary. It started in 1976 through all the great players with the Patriots. …

“Ernie, I just want to thank you. As your final draft in the final round, as we go to the final pick, it’s yours. Thank you for all of your contributions, not only here but to the game and to the process of scouting.”

Belichick explained how Adams practically wrote the book on scouting.

“The grading scale, the lettering, the numbering, the different classifications of players, the report writing, critical factors — he’s been a part of all that for really four decades,” Belichick said. “So his impact on not only the scouting for me personally in this organization, but honestly through all the people who have been here and left here, as well as obviously some of the acquisition of some of the great players in this organization and some of the championships that have eventually come with them.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wynqMhuDb78

Time will tell how Adams’ final selection will pan out in Foxborough.

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Ernie Adams explains his crucial role with the Patriots

On Sunday, Ernie Adams detailed what he does with the New England Patriots.

With the New England Patriots, there are a number people behind the scenes who play important roles — even if we don’t know what, exactly, that role is. Ernie Adams is one of those mysterious members of the Patriots.

Holding the title of director of football research, Adams is a jack of all trades. He has worked for Bill Belichick since the coach began his tenure with New England, and Adam is in charge of all of the little things that are so crucial to a football team. In an interview put out by the team on Sunday, Adams takes a deep dive into his role.

As he notes, he plays a big part in several operational aspects for New England.

yard tomorrow thanks for your help this for your help

With the Patriots sustained success over the last two decades, many people have been working behind the scenes to make it possible. Adams has certainly had a hand in that.

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Former Patriots executive shares insight on Ernie Adams’ role with the team

“I will say this: Ernie did a lot and does a lot, and he does it as well as anybody that I’ve ever been around.”

Ernie Adams has been widely considered the mystery man in the New England Patriots organization.

He’s officially listed as the Patriots’ director of football research, but nobody has outright said what he does. Former Patriots executive Scott Pioli joined NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran and gave further insight on Adams’ role — maybe more insight than the public has ever received.

“He would identify a lot of things,” Pioli said. “I’m not going to get into — that’s part of the Patriots thing, you’ve got cone of silence.”

This is the answer people have received since Adams joined took the position in 2000. Adams spent time as the Patriots’ offensive assistant coach and administrator from 1975-1978 also.

“I will say this: Ernie did a lot and does a lot, and he does it as well as anybody that I’ve ever been around,” Pioli said. “He’s involved in game-planning, he’s involved in personnel. He looks at things from a different perspective where he doesn’t sit in meeting rooms with individual players where he’ll end up getting distracted by certain emotional components and relationships with players. He looks at things with a very clean way.

“He’s a very smart guy. Everyone knows how smart and how brilliant he is, but he’s also an incredible human being and he’s very intuitive. He sees a lot of things. People make him out to be this spy-like thing. He just sees things that are just normal human behaviors and he just has a great mind. He contributes a lot to that organization.”

The Patriots have retained some other long-tenured, brilliant minds by keeping Josh McDaniels and Nick Caserio around. Although Tom Brady isn’t a part of the organization anymore, the Patriots still have Bill Belichick and these fundamental staff members who keep the ship running.

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