Patriots lose another assistant coach to college job
Another coach from Bill Belichick’s 2023 staff is leaving New England to join the college ranks.
Defensive assistant V’Angelo Bentley is heading to Duke to coach their cornerbacks, according to Matt Zenitz of 247 Sports. He joins Ross Douglas in leaving Foxborough, as the assistant wide receivers coach has already departed to join Syracuse’s offensive staff.
The 30-year-old Bentley was briefly with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2016, but was cut during training camp. He’s spent the past two years on Belichick’s coaching staff, and earlier this season, cornerbacks coach Mike Pellegrino expanded on Bentley’s role a bit.
“V does a great job for us. He’s grinding it out. Kind of a similar role that I’ve had,” Pellegrino said via NESN. “You’re the behind-the-scenes guy, so nobody sees you. I’m proud of him for his ability to work with the guys and help me and Brian(Belichick). He does a great job for us, and I love working with V. Great guy.
“He’s always looking to learn, so I’m always trying to help him out the best I can. He’s an important piece for myself and Brian. It’s great to have that guy as a resource.”
With Bill Belichick’s own future still uncertain, Patriots assistants have been totally “in the dark” this week, according to Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi.
“I can’t stress enough how in the dark staffers feel in Foxborough right now,” Giardi tweeted. “They’re operating as they would under normal circumstances, but have a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their heads. A number of coaches are in the final year of their contracts, so between that and Belichick’s situation, don’t know if they should be shipping off resumes and getting boxes to clean out offices or if it’s time to hunker down for one last chance to fix this.”
