Why hasn't the Patriots' philosophy caught on in the NFL?

[Schmo]

There's no other coach in the league that is as good of an educator as BB. Most coaches need very good, established players and then manage them. It's almost better to take a pure athlete (Neal, Ebner etc) and have Bill teach them the right way. That's the main reason we don't have to pay a premium.

 

[deroc5050]

Usually when someone is successful, other people try and copy it. Like, when Apple introduced the iPhone, a bunch of other manufacturers soon introduced similar phones.

In football that doesn't seem to apply. The Patriots have been successful, but nobody is copying their philosophy:

- The Patriots have had success with a smart pocket quarterback. Do teams copy that? Not at all. Every team seems to want a quarterback as big, strong and fast as possible.

- The Patriots have had success with a complex offense based on timing and reads. Does anyone copy that? Almost nobody.

- The Patriots have had success hiring players who want to win, not chase statistics. Does anyone else copy that philosophy? Not to my knowledge.

- The Patriots have had success hiring a head coach with a profound understanding of football, rather than a cheerleader. Does anyone else copy that? Almost nobody - owners all want the Hollywood coach who makes a lot of moving speeches and is "good with players".

- The Patriots have success not paying ridiculous contracts, but focusing on team strength. Again, nobody, or almost nobody, seems to even try to copy it.

I'm not saying every team should be a clone of the Patriots. But why doesn't some other team at least try to adopt some of the philosophy that was successful over nearly two decades for the Patriots?

I think a lot of teams are trying to do business like the Patriots. The biggest problem for other teams is.. They don't have Tom Brady. The 2nd biggest problem for those teams is.. They can't match Belichicks ability to coach and gameplan week to week and be successful.

I would even say barring coach and QB there are a lot of NFL teams out there that are more talented than the Patriots over the years. But because of Tom and the way Bill prepares the guys week in and week out.. thats the difference. They are not called the best ever for no reason.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

Considering former Patriots are now in charge of teams in Atlanta (Dimitroff, Pioli), Detroit (Quinn), Tampa Bay (Licht), and Tennessee (Robinson), with BOB having significant say in Houston as well, I'd also say that many teams have tried to follow the Patriots example, even importing some of our talent to do so. That's almost 1/5 of the league with key decision makers brought up in the Patriots system.

 

[K. Dog]

I think the problem with pocket QBs now is that college coaches finally figured out that they had a better chance of keeping their job if they won games instead of developing pro style QBs. I don't follow the college game much but it looks like there are more runners than passers at QB.

Would the college Brady be a starter on today's best college teams?

 

[1960Pats]

Would the college Brady be a starter on today's best college teams?

Sure. Why wouldn't he be?

 

[K. Dog]

Sure. Why wouldn't he be?

You suggested that the college quarterback game is more focused on running and general athleticism, and that this was a reason for the dearth of skilled pocket passers in the draft. At least, that is how I interpreted the quoted passage in your post. Since Brady was not a skilled runner in college, but was a pocket passer, that is why I asked.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

What a great thread! I think everything's been said. I'd highlight the following:

A consistent, non-meddling owner who is not afraid to make tough decisions but who also understands the difference between knowing what's going on and telling people what to do. That's why I've forgiven Bob Kraft for his serious error at the Owner's meeting in San Francisco.
The best HC in NFL history.
Early success so that even that Coach could buy the time to implement his program. If Bledsoe had led the Pats to a series of 7--9 or 8--8 seasons, I'm not sure that Kraft would have stuck with BB.
The best QB in NFL history.

Why haven't other teams followed the Pats model? Because they are missing nearly all of the above.

 

[pherein]

I'll put it another way, there is no way in hell Tom Brady has 5 rings with any other coach/franchise.

Spoken like a true Jets Bills Dolphins Colts Saints Panthers Eagles Rams Broncos Chargers Seahawks Falcons Texans fan

Id remove Saints from that list. We respect Tom.

 

[pherein]

Usually when someone is successful, other people try and copy it. Like, when Apple introduced the iPhone, a bunch of other manufacturers soon introduced similar phones.

In football that doesn't seem to apply. The Patriots have been successful, but nobody is copying their philosophy:

- The Patriots have had success with a smart pocket quarterback. Do teams copy that? Not at all. Every team seems to want a quarterback as big, strong and fast as possible.

- The Patriots have had success with a complex offense based on timing and reads. Does anyone copy that? Almost nobody.

- The Patriots have had success hiring players who want to win, not chase statistics. Does anyone else copy that philosophy? Not to my knowledge.

- The Patriots have had success hiring a head coach with a profound understanding of football, rather than a cheerleader. Does anyone else copy that? Almost nobody - owners all want the Hollywood coach who makes a lot of moving speeches and is "good with players".

- The Patriots have success not paying ridiculous contracts, but focusing on team strength. Again, nobody, or almost nobody, seems to even try to copy it.

I'm not saying every team should be a clone of the Patriots. But why doesn't some other team at least try to adopt some of the philosophy that was successful over nearly two decades for the Patriots?

I think the Saints are one team that has been trying to emulate the Patriots since 2006, and its why we won a SB, but we are not the Patriots or SP is not BB.

I think we are trying to copy, and SP openly admits that he copies BB. We didnt care who we played in 2009, but playing the Patriots ment alot to us, as a gauge of where we are now. But with Godell destroying the team for a couple years and that SP is not able to field a solid defense, its going to take some time. It made us better, we were complete 45 year old losers, but we have alot of things to do, and I love Brees, but hes no TB. So we dont have the coach or the QB to match up, but we are trying.

I would guess that other teams are also doing the same, but not as open about it as the Saints are. Its the perfect storm I believe, and hard to imposible to get everyhting right.

 

[slam]

I mean, what is the Patriots' system? There are so many parts to it that you just can't turn it on like a switch. Let's just try to list the some of the tenets of the Patriots' system.

• Salary Cap Discipline
• System Agnosticism (3-4 one year, 4-3 the next; Run O one week, 5 Wide next week, etc.) over System Perfection
  
• Roster depth over Superstar hunting
• Extreme matchup gameplanning
• Managing the roster to create hidden opportunities for manufacturing value (Comp pick system, Trading back and into the future, poaching players from other teams when system and regime changes make them available, etc.)
  
• Situational football

That's only scratching the surface. It'd be hard to get a ship turned over one or two of these aspects, let alone all of them. We could think of some teams that do some of it, but it's such a comprehensive change of all aspects of a team it's hard to envision any team getting it fully implemented. Owners tend to fire regimes if they don't show results after a few years.

 

[PatriotsReign]

The beauty is, it can't be copied

It's impossible to copy unless you have Belichick

 

[patriot1136]

I'm sure this was mentioned, but owners/GMs like Jerry Jones have too big of egos to allow them to even attempt the Patriot Way.

 

[patfanken]

I don't know if its been mentioned (I don't have the time to read them all right now), but among the more important things that differentiates the Pats that is difficult to duplicate is a simple one, how hard they work. It's not how hard they work that is the problem on other teams, it's getting the PLAYERS to buy in on working that hard. It is definitely not for EVERYONE.

This is something they've been doing for years, but it seems THIS is the year it is finally coming to light. It is HARD to play for the Pats, even though it means winning. The Curran article that quotes the Revis/Lafell comments. A great, probable HOFer, Reggie Wayne couldn't get of here fast enough after seeing what he'd be asked to do for an entire season. And I wouldn't be surprised it was a factor in Long not re-signing. He's got his ring and all the money he'll ever need. Why spend another year grinding for the Pats when he can go to a team and play techniques that emphasize his strengths. I'm sure it will be a factor in Bennett's decision as well

Every team THINKS they are working hard, but clearly the Pats are at another level in their preparation. For players who are drafted here, it is probably easier to deal with because it is all they've known. But for those coming to here from other teams, I'm sure its quite a culture shock and takes some getting used to. As a result some guys get it and go along and others would rather play elsewhere. It doesn't make them bad people or football players.

So in a league where the margin of victory is razor thin. A league where everyone has great players and coaches who are at the top of their fields, GETTING players to be willing to got just one step further is the kind of edge that makes a difference, especially when you can add a HOF HC and QB

 

[PatsBoy12]

Not every team has a Tom Brady. Is it quite that simplistic? If course not. But having Tom Brady allows for moves to be made that would be harder to absorb for most other organizations.

 

[lurker1965]

My theory is Bill Belichick is NOT a genius. Other teams are morons.

 

[Betterthanmost]

We draft for need for majority of the time, most teams want to draft the best player available. Plus, we have Brady who can process information very fast than most and covers most of our weakness in a lot of games. So for teams to emulate, they need to get a great QB and then draft for need. Don't focus on having a monster in any other position but QB.

 

[patfanken]

I think the Saints are one team that has been trying to emulate the Patriots since 2006, and its why we won a SB, but we are not the Patriots or SP is not BB.

I think we are trying to copy, and SP openly admits that he copies BB. We didnt care who we played in 2009, but playing the Patriots ment alot to us, as a gauge of where we are now. But with Godell destroying the team for a couple years and that SP is not able to field a solid defense, its going to take some time. It made us better, we were complete 45 year old losers, but we have alot of things to do, and I love Brees, but hes no TB. So we dont have the coach or the QB to match up, but we are trying.

I would guess that other teams are also doing the same, but not as open about it as the Saints are. Its the perfect storm I believe, and hard to imposible to get everyhting right.

what you point out, pherin, only emphasizes what makes the Pats run so amazing. It's not "getting there" that shows greatness. It's how hard it is to STAY there, and THAT is what makes the Pats' run so amazing.

Look at all the teams that have either won superbowls or come close who have come and gone. Carolina, Ravens, your Saints, the Giants, etc All have gotten there but quickly come back to earth for a time. It's the extraordinary CONSISTENCY that the Pats have maintained that boggles the imagination. When you think about how hard it is to win 10 games in a season, watching my team do it EVERY year for the last 13 years straight, defies reality

We try to define it. The hard work, the coaching system, the QB, the Coach, the owner etc It clearly all of those and more. It's easily copied but extrememly hard to duplicate simply because there are so many ingredients that have to be incoroporated "just so", that make it so hard to define.

Believe me, if any sports team needs to be a Harvard Business School case study, it's the Pats. The lessons learned that keep them on top in such a highly competitive environment is remarkable. It's like openening a Market Basket RIGHT next to 32 other supermarkets, then be in the top 4 in sales nearly every year of the last 17 and being on top for 5 of them.

 

[n6249c]

My theory is Bill Belichick is NOT a genius. Other teams are morons.

Your statement is half true. Belichick IS a genius. And, other teams are morons.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Because we have TB & BB and that's where it starts and ends and only they get it done with anyone in between.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

2 big differences:

- not everyone has the willingness and in some cases, capabiluties, to adapt the patriot way. Its complex schemes and not as 'fun' as playing in other systems. Im in the pitt area so ive heard ramon foster alot on the radios here. Great humble guy, great player, and whenever asked about the patriot way he shows a ton of respect for bb and ne, but ultimately he prefers the way the steelers do things. Sure, he could be just saying that out of loyalty, but he did sound genuine to it. So alot of guys out there, even high character guys like ramon, probably wouldnt CHOOSE to play for a coach or system like ours. And as we seen, many great talents flat out cant grasp the schemes here.

- i doubt youll ever find 2 guys as good as bb / brady who are nearly as humble as either on the same team , and willing to look out for the team first. Brady plays at a considerable discount considering how good he is, takes verbal lashings in practice from the head coach without An ego, and no person in the team works harder than its biggest star. That stuff speaks volumes and i think it has a big effect throughout. Imo itd be much tougher to keep the patriot way strong in an organization that isnt as top heavy AND the top guys being as unselfish as they are.