Without Bill Belichick, the NFL will never be the same
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick address the media.
Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
The only game the Bears would win in a 374-day span meant a lot to the McCaskeys.
On Oct. 24, 2022, the Bears’ 33-14 “Monday Night Football” victory kept Patriots coach Bill Belichick from passing founder George Halas on the all-time wins list.
“They were all pleased with that,” coach Matt Eberflus said at the time.
Belichick pushed past “Papa Bear” for second place on the all-time wins list, including the playoffs, the next week against the Jets. His departure from the Patriots on Thursday, which he and owner Robert Kraft claimed was mutual, assures that he could never pass Halas for the most career wins with one team: 324.
Belichick, though, can claim something the founder of the NFL cannot — the greatest dynasty in the history of the sport, spanning 24 years. He and star Tom Brady reached the playoffs in every season in which the quarterback was healthy. From 2001, when Brady became the starter, until 2019, the Patriots won six Super Bowls, nine conference championships and 17 AFC East titles. They earned a first-round bye in each of Brady’s last nine seasons with the team; by contrast, the Bears — whom Belichick beat five of seven times — have appeared in just nine playoff games since the turn of the century.
No coach has more postseason wins than Belichick.
“We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here,” Belichick said Thursday. “And that’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations, the amount of success that we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and contributions of so many people.”
Often clad in a hooded sweatshirt — it’d be cut off at the sleeves in the warmer months — Belichick cut an unlikely figure. The 71-year-old gave little quarter in curt, monotone press conference responses but was engaging with the microphones off, particularly when it came to football history. His ethos was simple: “Do your job.”
Belichick is the greatest coach ever, beyond Halas or career wins leader Don Shula. His departure, though, proved that even he wasn’t immune to the familiar arc of NFL failure. He struggled without Brady, going nine games under .500 after he left for the Buccaneers in 2020. Brady won a Super Bowl the following year and retired after last season.
Their partnership was the most successful tandem in NFL history. Belichick wasn’t the same without Brady.
He had prominent missteps in recent years, drafting quarterback Mac Jones in 2021 and putting former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia in charge of the offense in 2022. Belichick, the Patriots’ de facto general manager, drafted a placekicker in Round 4 last year; he finished as the least accurate in the league.
The Patriots went 4-13 this season, the worst mark in Belichick’s career, be it in New England or, from 1991-95, with the Browns.
Life at 1 Patriot Place had grown stale. Both sides wanted a change.
“He is the greatest coach of all time,” Kraft said. “Which makes this decision to part ways so hard.”
The Patriots’ success helped them survive two of the most prominent NFL scandals of their era: “Spygate,” in 2007, when the Patriots were found videotaping opposing team’s signs, and “Deflategate,” in 2015, when they were accused of under-inflating footballs. The former cost the Patriots a first-round draft pick, and the latter earned Brady a four-game suspension.
Belichick’s model of having control over both personnel and coaching responsibilities — which dates to Halas — might have died along with his departure. Most modern teams prefer to have a coach and GM sharing responsibilities.
Belichick sounded open to relinquishing certain duties Monday. It will be curious to see if any of the seven teams with head coach openings — he’s been linked to the Falcons — allow him to do more than just coach. He’s 14 wins away from tying Shula for the most ever.