It may have taken awhile, but the usually calm and cool Bill Belichick has finally had enough of Matt Walsh, and he’s speaking out about it.  In an interview on CBS’ Evening News, Belichick had some not so nice words about Walsh: “There’s not a lot of credibility,” Belichick said “You know, he’s tried to make it seem like we’re buddies, and belong to the same book club and all. That’s really a long, long stretch.”

Walsh has claimed all along that he knew what he was doing was wrong when he was videotaping other teams coaches signals, but of course he was just trying to be a team player for his employer.  “When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong,” Walsh said. “Coach Belichick’s explanation for having misinterpreted the rules, to me, that really didn’t sound like taking responsibility for what we had done, especially considering the great lengths that we had gone through to hide what we were doing.”

The Pats have paid dearly for their mistakes, with Belichick at the forefront.  The team lost its first round draft pick, was fined $250,000, and Belichick was fined $500,000.  Since that time though early in the season, Belichick has been pretty much quiet about Walsh and the situation, that is until this interview.

“For him to talk about game-planning and strategy and play-calling and how he advised coordinators, it’s embarrassing; it’s absurd,” Belichick said. “He didn’t have any knowledge of football. He was our third video assistant.”  Bill has claimed all along that he did not know who Walsh even was, and that he meant no wrong doing in taping other coaches.

After Spygate was brought to light last season, Goodell fined New England head coach Bill Belichick a half-million dollars and the team 250-thousand dollars.  The team also forfeited its first-round draft pick in this year’s draft.  Reports ahead of the Patriots loss to the Giants in this year’s Super Bowl suggested Walsh had more information about the situation.  Last week, Walsh sent eight tapes to the league that showed opposing teams’ sidelines and coaches sending signals into the opposition.  The tapes were from 2000 through 2002 and included the 2002 AFC Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Goodell said according to Walsh, the tapes were not used during the games they were recorded.

Former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh has reportedly turned over to the NFL eight videotapes that were recorded between the 2000 and 2002 seasons.  The “New York Times” says the footage shows the play-calling signals of five opponents in six games, but the tapes do not include video of the St. Louis Rams’ practice the day before Super Bowl 36.  According to the paper, the Pats recorded the offensive and defensive signals of coaches in regular-season games against the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns and San Diego Chargers. 

In addition, Walsh’s tapes show New England recorded the signals used by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2002 AFC Championship Game.  In that contest, the paper says the footage has been edited to show Pittsburgh coaches calling plays, followed by two different camera angles of the actual plays that were signaled in.  Walsh was employed by the Patriots from 1997 to 2003, and he will discuss with the league the team’s videotaping practices during his tenure with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell on May 13th.

The Pats were caught videotaping signals used by the New York Jets during the first game of the regular season last year.  The “Spygate” scandal cost the Patriots 250-thousand-dollars and their first-round pick in this year’s draft.  Head coach Bill Belichick was also fined 500-thousand-dollars for the incident.  Goodell said additional penalties could be levied after his meeting with Walsh.

Picks: LB Jerod Mayo, CB Terrence Wheatley, LB Shawn Crable, QB Kevin O’Connell, CB Jonathan Wilhite, WR Matt Slater and LB Bo Ruud
Positives: Mayo, Wheatley and Crable
Negatives: O’Connell
Bottom line: A-. Indy’s Bill Polian is the best drafter, but no team in the NFL works the draft better than the Patriots and they again showed it this year. They moved out of the No. 7 spot and got yet another pick after not getting a shot at one of the premier defenders in the draft. The Pats now can begin the transition from the paleo-linebacking corps they’ve had the past two years to a more modern group. Likewise, they hope the likes of Wheatley and Wilhite will fill the shoes of departed CBs Asante Samuel and Randall Gay.

Realizing that the defense is getting older and needs to get better, the Pats moved down a few picks, then with the 1th pick who they got from the Saints, they picked OLB Jerod Mayo from Tennessee.  Mayo is 6-1, 242, and last season had a whopping 140 tackles in 14 games, with 8.5 tackles for losses, 1.5 sacks and one pick.  He will be a welcome addition for a defense that needs to get better if the Pats are going to keep being an elite team in the NFL.

Here is a scouting report on Mayo from NFLdraftcountdown.com

Strengths:
Very athletic…Has excellent timed speed and quickness..Physical and plays bigger than he is…Has terrific range and does a great job in pursuit…Reliable tackler and will deliver the big hit…Smart with good awareness and instincts…Has a non-stop motor…Fluid & smooth in coverage…Versatile…Productive..Nice program pedigree.

Weaknesses:
Undersized and doesn’t have either the ideal height or bulk that you look for..Has trouble taking on and shedding blockers…Needs to be protected up front…Just a marginal blitzer…Durability may be an issue…Probably not a good fit for everyone.

Notes:
The next in a long line of top Volunteer linebackers…Can project inside or outside depending on the defensive scheme and has experience at both…Best fit may be as a middle ‘backer in a Cover 2 or on the weakside..Not a traditional thumper but he will prove awfully attractive to teams that are willing to sacrifice some size for speed…He will draw comparisons to Al Wilson and those are reasonably accurate.

And here is ESPN’s take on Mayo:

Mayo isn’t quite as instinctive as Rivers, and Mayo has to improve his cover skills. But he has more upside than Rivers. He has very good top-end speed for his size, and although he lacks ideal strength he explodes into hits. In addition, he’s versatile enough to line up on the inside or the outside depending on how a team wants to use him.