HOUSTON — Not to be overlooked in the New England Patriots advancing to another Super Bowl is the return of offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, who retired after the 2014 season only to be lured back by head coach Bill Belichick this season.
Scarnecchia, 68, is in his 33rd NFL season as an assistant coach and 31st with the Patriots.
Monday night, Belichick referred to Scarnecchia “as the greatest coach I’ve ever been around.”
Tackle Nate Solder said, “Coach Scarnecchia has been awesome. I feel so lucky to be coached by him. He’s certainly helped me improve this season as he always has but as a group I think we improved and we continue to improve and that’s all attributed to him and our hard work.”
Asked what make him unique, Solder said, “Well he’s an excellent teacher. He can break down the game so we can understand it, he can break it down so we can play at a higher level and he’s consistent too. You’ll see from Day 1 of OTAs all the way through to now, Super Bowl practices, we’ll be doing the same drills because those drills translate and he harps on the same things that really helped me improve my game.”
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels also things highly of Scarnecchia.
“Dante is a tremendous, tremendous asset, a tremendous, tremendous coach,” McDaniels said. “He’s a great teacher. He builds tremendous continuity among the guys that play for him. He really does a great job of getting them to understand how to communicate with each other and work with one another because ultimately, five guys need to do a good job of working with one another to do their jobs on the offensive line, and he’s done a great job of that. He has them prepared and ready to practice each day so that they can make progress and improve, and then has them ultimately prepared and ready to play on game day which is again, that’s our one day a week that we have an opportunity to go out there and really perform.
“He’s been a tremendous mentor of mine and he’s certainly made a huge difference and impact on our group up front and on our offense and on our team. I don’t think his value can be understated. He’s tremendous and we love having him here and it’s our privilege to have a chance to work with him.”
Falcons head coach Dan Quinn recalls going against Scarnecchia’s units when he coached four seasons in the AFC East as defensive line coach of the Dolphins and when he was also with the Jets.
“I’m very familiar with how well his units have played,” Quinn said. “To me, I’ve always had great respect for offensive line coaches, or any coaches for that matter, whose units really perform well. So through the years, he’s someone I’ve enjoyed competing against, and that hasn’t changed. I just have great respect for the way he teaches and the way his groups have played.”
As for what sticks out with Scarnecchia’s coaching, Quinn said, “I don’t know if there are things that stick out, but what I can tell you is the consistency that the groups play with. When a group doesn’t beat themselves and doesn’t allow mistakes to happen for a second or a third time, that’s a real sign that like, OK, this is the adjustment we’re going to make, and for years he has nailed that.”