caserio

The New England Patriots added some veteran depth to their organization yesterday, but he won’t be suiting up to play.

Longtime NFL assistant coach and executive Floyd Reese was brought aboard and given the title of senior football adviser. In addition, the team formally announced that director of player personnel Nick Caserio will be in charge of the personnel department’s day-to-day operations.

Reese has been an NFL analyst on ESPN for the last two years, since leaving the Tennessee Titans after the 2006 season. Technically, Reese resigned his Titans job, but it was made clear to him that his contract was not going to be renewed after 13 years as general manager and 111 victories.

Now, New England essentially has two men to do the job Scott Pioli used to do. Caserio, having gotten experience as both an assistant coach and in scouting/personnel, knows the type of player coach head coach Bill Belichick is looking for, but has little experience in contract negotiations. Reese, in 13 years as general manager of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, has a great deal of experience in that area, and the announcement of his hiring cited that as one of his specific duties with the team.

His other duties have not yet been defined, but Reese will not simply be a consultant. In a conference call yesterday, he said he will be at Gillette Stadium tomorrow and will be moving his family to the area. Currently, they live in the Bristol, Conn., area, where ESPN’s studios are located.

Reese is excited for the opportunity to return to the league, particularly with a franchise he respects,

“It’s as thrilling as it can get because … the opportunities most of the time are in areas or with teams that are broken, unable to win, don’t have quarterbacks, don’t have backing, maybe have issues with stadiums or facilities, fan support, whatever it may be. This opportunity is so at the opposite end of the spectrum from all of that,” he said. “This is indeed a thrill because, like I said, none of those things are broken. They’re all in very good shape. It’s going to be my role to come in and help however I can.”

Most of Reese’s professional career was spent with the Houston Oilers, who moved in 1997 and became the Tennessee Titans. He was the longest-tenured GM in franchise history.

He had a solid track record, and 16 of the 22 regular starters from this year’s Titans team, which claimed the top seed in the AFC playoffs, were acquired by Reese. Six of them were Pro Bowl selections.

Reese and Belichick began their careers in the NFL in the same place — Detroit. After an All-American career at UCLA (fans voted him as a defensive lineman on the school’s “team of the century” a decade ago), Reese spent a season in the Canadian Football League, then went into coaching, first at his alma mater and then at Georgia Tech.

In 1975, he joined the Lions as their strength and conditioning coach. A year later, an up-and-comer named Bill Belichick joined the staff. Being so much younger than the rest of their colleagues sort of forced Reese and Belichick together, but in their two seasons in Detroit a professional friendship was forged.

More recent seasons have seen them chat a few times a year — before the NFL Draft and around the time of the league’s trading deadline. According to Reese, despite having different schemes — the Titans run a 4-3 defense while the Patriots are a base 3-4 — the teams often favored the same players in the draft.

“Floyd and I go back a long way, practically to the beginning for both of us,” Belichick said in a statement. “He has handled as much as one person can possibly handle in this league, and to a certain extent so has Nick. In Nick and Floyd, we have two outstanding men who each bring a wealth of knowledge and flexibility to this organization.”

Reese has made no secret of his desire to return to the league, and while he enjoyed his time at ESPN, he said whenever he spoke with one of the former players the network employs, their talks 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,” Reese said.

Belichick contacted Reese about 10 days ago, and things “escalated from there.” Reese and the team agreed to a contract on Monday, and while he would not discuss specifics, he said the plan is for him to be with the Pats for more than one year.

While he has a long history with Belichick — Sports Illustrated’s Don Banks said yesterday he is one of the few people who still calls him “Billy” — Reese does not know Caserio, the man he will be working side by side with.

“We’re kind of starting off on the ground floor. I know him through reputation, and I know he’s been very good at what he does. I think we’ll get together and decide how everything’s going to work,” Reese said.

He has done it all, but is missing one thing — a Super Bowl title. Reese knows he’s in a prime situation to make that a reality.

“This organization doesn’t need a lot of fixing,” he said. “They are in pretty good shape, so I think my objective is to come in and do whatever I can do to help Mr. Kraft and Bill win another world championship.”

smanza@projo.com