Fallout from a Patriots season that ended one game short of the Super Bowl continued Wednesday, with reports surfacing that Harold Nash, the team’s head strength and conditioning coach, will not return next season.
Nash just completed his 11th NFL season, all with the Patriots. He joined the team in 2005, and from 2005-10 was the assistant strength and conditioning coach. He took over in 2011 when Mike Woicik, the head strength and conditioning coach, left to take a similar position with the Cowboys.
While not a direct reflection on a strength and conditioning coach’s work, injuries can affect job performance, and the Patriots this season were especially hard hit. They ended the year with 14 players on injured reserve, including eight who started games or would have been viewed as starters: running backs LeGarrette Blount, Dion Lewis, and James Develin, offensive linemen Nate Solder and Ryan Wendell, defensive lineman Dominique Easley, cornerback Tarell Brown, and receiver Aaron Dobson.
Nash became a coach after spending 11 seasons as a cornerback in the Canadian Football League. He signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent out of Southwestern Louisiana, but was released by New York in 1993.
When Nash was promoted from assistant to head strength and conditioning coach in 2011, the Patriots hired Moses Cabrera to be the assistant. Cabrera has held the job for five seasons, after spending 13 years working at four colleges, most recently Colorado in 2010.
ESPN was the first to report that Nash would not return next season. On Monday, one day after the Patriots lost to the Broncos in the AFC Championship game, the team informed offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo that he would not be retained. DeGuglielmo had been the offensive line coach for two seasons.
Speaking to WEEI Wednesday from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., Patriots coach Bill Belichick confirmed that DeGuglielmo would not return.
“Dave’s contract was up, and we talked after the game,’’ said Belichick. “We’re going to go in different directions on that one.
“I have a lot of respect for Dave. We had a lot of success offensively last year and this year, and appreciate all his efforts and all that he did for us, and wish him well in whatever his future brings. There will be some type of a transition at that position.’’
A note of respect
There has been a wide range of reaction from the Broncos since their 20-18 victory over the Patriots. Safety Darian Wilson said he and his teammates felt “disrespected’’ by the Patriots’ unexpected decision to receive the first-half kickoff after winning the pregame coin toss, something they had done just once since 2008. Wilson’s inference was that the Patriots felt they could take the ball and immediately score. The Broncos took offense to such bold thinking. Running back C.J. Anderson offered a different postgame take, and took to Instagram to share it. He penned a note about Tom Brady. “I know a lot of people hate this man but when he was pick [No.] 199 and was overlooked he inspired me,’’ Anderson wrote. “I was undrafted and overcame all the odds so bless what he told me at the end of this game.“He said, ‘C.J. way to fight and prove everybody wrong you belong in this league. I love the way you run, keep climbing to be great.’ Thanks, Tom, for telling me those words, they will stick. I know a lot of people don’t like you, but I have MAD RESPECT.’’ . . . On Wednesday, Brady thanked Patriots fans in a hand-written note on Facebook.
