Projo Pats Blog

Patriots' new senior football advisor Floyd Reese just wrapped a conference call with media members, and expressed his excitement at getting back into the NFL after two years in front of the cameras on ESPN, particularly with a team that isn't in need of much fixing, if any.

"It's as thrilling as it can get because as I said before, the opportunities most of the time are in areas or with teams that are broken, unable to win, they don't have quarterbacks, they have issues with stadiums or fan support, whatever [the problems] may be. And this opportunity is so far on the opposite end of the spectrum from that," said Reese, whose relationship with Bill Belichick dates back to their days as members of the Detroit Lions staff in the late 1970s.

Reese was dismissed by the Tennessee Titans as general manager after the 2006 season; though he mentioned several times how much he enjoyed his time at ESPN, whenever he spoke with other former players who were also employed by the cable network, their conversations would always end with, "...but it's not the NFL."

"This is my life and if there is anything I do know, it's the NFL. The ability to get back and get back in this position is a thrill," he said.

Reese said Belichick called him about 10 days ago asking to meet with him and things escalated from there, culminating with a contract agreement yesterday. He would not get into specifics concerning his contract, but said the plan is to be with the Patriots for more than one year.

Reese and Belichick have remained in touch through the years, Reese said, talking usually around draft time and the league's trade deadline. While with the Titans, Tennessee's and New England's draft boards were generally close, he added, with each team taking players the other had targeted or thought highly of.

In over 30 years in the NFL, Reese has served in a variety of capacities -- with the Lions, his first job in professional football after four years in the college ranks, he was the strength and conditioning coach, and moved into the front office in 1990 with the then Houston Oilers. He remained with through its move to Nashville, and until his dismissal two years ago. In the time since, Reese had publicly expressed interest in other teams' GM openings.

As he said, with New England, there's not a lot of heavy lifting, and he's ready to do whatever is asked of him. He will relocate his family from the Bristol, Conn. area and will be in the office on Thursday ready to get to work.

One of his first acts will be getting to know Nick Caserio. While Caserio will be in charge of day-to-day personnel operations, one of Reese's duties will be in contract negotiations, and the pair will certainly be working together frequently.

 Tags  Bill Belichick Floyd Reese Nick Caserio

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