I'm not sure where the 117 comes from, but the seven seasons you cite total to
112 games over those seasons, in which BB had a win percentage of 0.464. We obviously disagree over the circumstances surrounding those games and that record and there's little point in arguing that any further.
But you did get me thinking. I had a little time so I looked at the HC's who would be on anyone's list of the greatest of all time and looked at their
seven worst seasons. This is what I found, ranked by total number of Regular Season games coached (i.e., not including the Playoffs):
Don Shula: 490 total regular season games coached,
33 seasons, Win percentage 0.677.
Seven worst seasons:
105 games, Win percentage .514
Tom Landry: 418 games,
29 seasons, 0.607 win %.
Seven worst seasons: 99 games, Win Percentage 0.283
Bill Belichick: 400 games,
25 seasons, 0.683 win %.
Seven worst seasons: 112 games, Win Percentage 0.464
Curly Lambeau: 380 games,
33 seasons, 0.631 win %,
Seven worst seasons: 83 games, Win Percentage 0.422
Chuck Noll: 342 games,
22 seasons, 0.566 win %.
Seven worst seasons: 105 games, Win Percentage 0.419
Paul Brown: 326 games,
25 seasons, 0.672 win %.
Seven worst seasons: 94 games, Win Percentage 0.394
....
Bill Walsh: 152 games,
10 seasons, 0.609 win %.
Seven worst seasons (of a total of 10 as HC): 111 games, Win Percentage 0.550
Vince Lombardi: 136 games,
10 seasons, 0.738 win %.
Seven worst seasons (of a total of 10 as HC): 94 games, Win Percentage 0.638
What I learned:
- I hadn't realized how relatively short the HC careers of Bill Walsh and Vince Lombardi were (doesn't change the fact that both were not only extremely successful as measured by Championships, the most important indicator, but they also revolutionized the game, Walsh with his Offense and Lombardi by building on Paul Brown's work in putting process and discipline into coaching a Football team). However, their short time in the job makes it difficult to compare them to HC's with, in some cases, three times more games as HC.
- Every great coach has/had bad seasons.
- BB's win percentage in his seven worst seasons is better than that of any coach with more than ten seasons coached, except for Don Shula. However, when you factor in championships and postseason records, there is really no comparison between Belichick and Shula.
- So, picking out seven seasons in coaching careers that span two and three decades is really not a good way to judge accomplishment.
- In the end, BB will be considered the greatest HC of all time based on his regular and post season accomplishments. People will understand that he was fortunate to have the greatest QB of all time playing for him for most of his career, but that will not diminish his place in NFL history, any more than Lombardi having Starr, Walsh having Montana and Rice, Shula having Unitas and Marino, Landry having Staubach, Brown having Graham or Noll having the Steel Curtain and Bradshaw.