The End of an Era

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Matt LaPan, GoLocal Worcester Sports Reporter

On Wednesday afternoon, the New England Patriots announced that offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia is retiring following a 32 year career in the NFL, including 30 years with the Patriots. In his storied career, that spanned over four decades, Scarnecchia became one of the most respected men in Patriots' history.

Scarnecchia entered the NFL as the special teams and tight ends coach on Ron Meyer's 1982 Patriots' staff. Scarnecchia served in that role from the 1982 season through the 1988 season, serving under both Meyer and Raymond Berry who assumed the head coaching job in 1984. Scarnecchia took his lone hiatus from the Patriots by rejoining Meyer in the 1989 and 1990 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts as the offensive line coach. He made his return to the Patriots in 1991 under Dick MacPherson, serving once again as the special teams and tight ends coach. Scarnecchia held this role through the 1992 season, but Scarnecchia also served as the Patriots' interim head coach for the final eight games of the 1992 season when Dick MacPherson took a leave due to illness. Following his service to the team in 1992, Scarnecchia was named the Patriots' special assistant for the 1993 and 1994 season under new Patriots coach Bill Parcells. In 1995 Scarnecchia was named the defensive assistant and held that role until the start of the 1997 season, when Pete Carroll took over as Patriots head coach. With the move Scarnecchia was named special teams coach again for both the 1997 and 1998 season before Carroll named him offensive line coach in 1999. Scarnecchia has served as offensive line coach since 1999, but added the told of assistant head coach starting in 2000 when Bill Belichick took over as Patriots head coach.

When asked about Scarnecchia's retirement, Bill Belichick said, "Dante Scarnecchia is a Patriot and NFL legend who defied the phrase ‘not for long. In an industry of constant change, Dante remained a fixture here for the simple reason that he helped every player reach his highest potential, regardless of who he was, how he was acquired or how much raw talent he had.

In whatever category a coach can be assessed - evaluator, teacher, motivator, problem solver, disciplinarian, team player, winner – Dante is as good as it gets," Belichick said. "As many games as he helped us win and as much as we would like to work with Dante forever, we are blessed with the opportunity to have been with him as long as we were."

Belichick's sentiment towards Scarnecchia was matched by Patriots' Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft. "Dante Scarnecchia has been the only coaching constant since I purchased the team in 1994. Not coincidentally, he retires as the only coach to have been a part of all seven Super Bowl teams in Patriots franchise history. I want to thank Dante for his leadership, professionalism and always putting the team first.

For as long as I have known him, he was always the first to arrive in the morning and among the last to leave," Kraft said. "He didn't demand respect from his players. He earned it. I loved watching Dante lead by example, especially when he would run stride for stride with his players during their conditioning runs. He was a coach who always stressed technique and fundamentals and helped players reach their full potential. At training camp, his colorful, constructive, coaching critiques made him a fan favorite. His presence on the Patriots sidelines will be missed by our coaches, players and fans alike."

Scarnecchia's 30 years with the Patriots are the second most a coach has spent with a single team, trailing only Dick Hoak who served 35 years in the Pittsburgh Steelers organization. In his time with the Patriots, Scarnecchia served under six head coaches, also serving a brief time as head coach. He has been a part of 18 of the Patriots' 21 seasons ending in playoff runs which included 39 or the team's 43 playoff wins. Scarnecchia was also the only member of the Patriots to be a part of all of the team's seven Super Bowl appearances.

The Patriots announced the addition of Dave DeGuglielmo as the new offensive line coach.

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