Despite going 53-18 as the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots from 2006 through 2009, Dean Pees has been fired.

Pees went 10-7 this season (including playoffs), but had a defense full of young players, as defensive veterans Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Ellis Hobbs, and Richard Seymour were not on this years roster but starters during 2008.  However, New England finished 5th in the NFL in points allowed (17.8), but only finished 23rd in sacks (31).

Many people have been critical of the defense as a smoke-show, getting blown away by the better teams in the league, as Indianapolis (35) and New Orleans (38) clearly overmatched the Patriots defense when it mattered the most.  Others were critical of the defense because of the lack of pressure, attributing that to the fact that Dean Pees is not known for exotic blitz packages.  Because of the lack of pressure, the Patriots young secondary was exposed.

However, many people in the media have defended Pees, attributing the lack of a pass rush and solid defensive play to the fact that the organization has drafted poorly recently, and traded away defensive starters Hobbs and Seymour in order to rebuild towards the feature.  They also look back to players like Asante Samuel who the Kraft’s were not willing to pay, despite the fact he was a tremendous defensive player during his time in New England.

It is too early to tell who the Patriots are targeting as their next defensive coordinator, but ESPN has reported that Al Groh may be targeted due to the fact that he and Bill Belicheck have coached together in the past.