The deed is done.
The divorce between the Patriots and Bill Belichick is now a reality.
Even though this news doesn’t come as a surprise given it’s been a hot topic for months, with one report suggesting the decision was made after the early November loss in Germany, it still seems a bit surreal.
And sadly bittersweet.
Letting go of a coach who was part of six championships, and largely considered the greatest coach of all time, closes a significant chapter in Patriots lore.
And while it falls into the category of making a decision that seems best for the franchise, it also tugs at the heart strings. There’s also the element of being careful what you wish for.
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What if the Patriots don’t turn it around, and Belichick wins a Super Bowl someplace else? What if there’s a deja vu on par with what happened with Tom Brady his first year outside of Foxborough?
No doubt team owner Robert Kraft weighed all of those factors, but in the end, with a 4-13 team that’s finished out of the playoffs three of the last four seasons, a team that falls woefully short on the talent meter, a change needed to be made.
Unlike Brady however, Belichick isn’t leaving at or near the top of this game, especially when it comes to picking the groceries.
Over the course of the last five years, and a bit beyond, Belichick the G.M. has gotten failing grades. He hasn’t helped Belichick the coach do his job. Instead, he’s left himself, the coaching staff, not to mention his quarterback, trying to do more with less.
That worked with Brady for the most part, but it doesn’t with quarterbacks who aren’t superstars and can’t elevate the team.
At 71, Belichick can still coach. He’s still able to get players to play and he’s still capable of devising elaborate schemes that foil the game’s top quarterbacks. Ultimately, he lost his fastball when it came to assembling a winning team.
Poor drafts have been a killer, along with failures in free agency. Belichick’s philosophy on what wins in the NFL just isn’t up with the times.
As a defensive coach, he still believes that’s the side of the ball that wins. Why else would he use the first three draft picks in the 2023 draft on defensive players, while ignoring glaring needs on the offensive side of the ball?
The game has evolved. It’s an offense driven league now, and Belichick’s failure as a G.M. to stock that side of the ball with elite talent has led to his undoing and ultimate departure.
But that shouldn’t undermine what Belichick has meant to the organization over time. Given how poorly Belichick has done without Brady, that’s swayed some to believe the half-dozen championships attained were due to having the greatest quarterback of all time in the building.
That’s a simplistic, and uninformed view. And it’s flat out wrong.
This was a great marriage of head coach and quarterback. It was Belichick who was the mastermind of the defense that stalled the Greatest Show on Turf en route to the first Super Bowl win over the St. Louis Rams. He also devised the schemes to take down the Rams offensive juggernaut 17 years later in Super Bowl LIII.
Together, Brady and Belichick, along with the perfect complement of players Belichick assembled for each of those championship teams, made it happen. It’s a disservice to Belichick to think all of those Lombardi trophies were won without his imprint.
So his departure should be met with appreciation for his part in creating a dynasty. There’s also a tinge of sadness given how it ended. Losing to the Jets on the final week in a snowstorm had to be embarrassing for Belichick, who had beaten them 15 straight times. He just walked off the field, cloaked by a ski mask covering his face.
There’s no question his legacy has taken a bit of a hit having failed to achieve much success without Brady, but Belichick is still revered as a defensive genius.
Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce made sure to reach out to Belichick after the Chiefs Week 15 win over the Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
“I just mentioned how much I respect him and how much it’s always the biggest challenge I go up against in the National Football League is going up against one of his defenses,” Kelce said on the “New Heights” podcast.
“I just wanted to make sure he heard that from my mouth, man,” he added, “because it’s been a pleasure going up against him all these years.”
Since Brady left, Belichick’s been the face of the franchise. Belichick’s mug was the one that was most often been used to capture the essence of the team.
With Brady gone, and no megastars on the roster, Belichick gave the Patriots its remaining cachet, and outside of Kraft, he was the last remnant of all of the team’s championships. He was the one remaining on-field link to the team’s entire dynastic run and two decades of dominance.
And now, he’s left the building after 24 years.
While it was time, it’s still tough to cut that cord. It’s tough to break with the team’s last vestige of greatness.
A new chapter awaits.
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