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

TinhWoodhead · Feb 28, 2017

b/c they dont have the best fans in the world

fnordcircle · Feb 28, 2017

A lot of what our team does gets copied.

But a lot of what you're talking about I think has more to do with the dearth of players coming out of the college level who have been prepared to do what we're asking them to do. I really wish there were more pro-style offenses in college.

IllegalContact · Feb 28, 2017

I think it is impossible to reproduce how the Pats do and it is quite simple

BB has total control over everything football.....PP,GM,Coach

between there being a real shortage of people who can do that and a real shortage of owners who would do that, the Pats are safe with the recipe

it does help to have a GOAT QB, but even in post Brady days, I believe the team would be making playoff pushes

Patriotism · Feb 28, 2017

I agree with the man who mentioned job security as the key regarding coaches/GM. One example of that I'll give you outside the Pats organization is this. The Cowboys are owned and run by Jerry Jones and his son. As despicable as Jerry Jones is - he and his GM son are there for the looong term. And since Jerry turned over the reigns to his son Stephen they've begun to make smart decisions. They no longer sign high profile FA's and last year they drafted Jaylon Smith knowing he wouldn't play in '16'. Only other team that would have taken Smith that high and be willing to wait would be the Pats.

Job security = patience and prudency

XLIX · Feb 28, 2017

The Patriot Way:

1) Hire one of the best (if not THE best) HCs in NFL history
2) Draft the greatest QB of all time in the 6th round - a guy who over the course of his career happens to be willing to take less money than he is worth to help the team

Yeah, I can't figure out why more teams don't copy that either...

Rusty Coupe · Feb 28, 2017

Rather than try to copy what the Patriots have done, it seems like the NFL has taken the oppisite approach and have tried to marginalize the Patriots.

neuronet · Feb 28, 2017

TommyBrady12 said:
The other coaches don't have the IQ level and commitment belichick does. It sounds harsh but it's true.

What are you talking about?!

Brit patriot · Feb 28, 2017

This is all about other franchises having coaches who need to do well THIS year or they get fired. That means they have no ability to strategize and sometimes make tough decisions that the fanbase won't like.

When Bill started to win Superbowls, he could plan long term. It then becomes self fulfilling.

WinstonSmith · Feb 28, 2017

What separates the Patriots from other teams, excluding Brady, is having a disciplined approach that focuses on what matters most to achieve in season excellence and long term success, including:

Clear corporate vision that delicately balances both short and long term goals.
Coaches and management are exposed to both offensive and defensive disciplines as part of their development.
Head Coach has final say regarding roster. Head Coach and GM are both hands on in working with and actually coaching team members which allows them to make quick well informed value judgements that weighs both short and long term goals.
Employs aggressive churn and burn strategy in managing the bottom of the roster which helps to maximize depth.
Makes disciplined personnel decisions with an eye towards maximizing compensation to performance yield.
Management is willing to adapt strategic approach to utilize strengths of team.
Ownership supports operations and for the most part allows them to do what they do.

In this day and age of instant gratification it's near impossible to replicate but many have borrowed bits and pieces of it.

Deus Irae · Feb 28, 2017

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

"Have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady" isn't a copyable philosophy.

Rob0729 · Feb 28, 2017

Plenty of teams have tried to copy the Pats over the years. The problem is that you cannot recreate Brady or Belichick.

But to the coaching argument, I think that is the biggest reason why the quality of play is so bad in the NFL these days. Bad organizations churn coaches every 2-3 years. When they do that, they have to implement new systems and the players they have may not be suited for it. It just creates an endless cycle of bad teams.

Ring 6 · Feb 28, 2017

Deus Irae said:
"Have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady" isn't a copyable philosophy.

Well, Belichick IS the philosophy. While he certainly wouldn't have 5 without Brady, I think its fair to say that BB probably would still have had the most successful run in the NFL (or close to it) with someone else. Keeping in mind that whoever that would be would have been coached, prepared, held to standards, and engulfed in the system and schemes, which would have elevated whoever eventually became acceptable to somewhere between what they are and what Brady is.
So to me, the question would be that there seem to be many things that BB does that work much better than the alternative, so why do many teams still go in the opposite direction.

Deus Irae · Feb 28, 2017

AndyJohnson said:
Well, Belichick IS the philosophy. While he certainly wouldn't have 5 without Brady, I think its fair to say that BB probably would still have had the most successful run in the NFL (or close to it) with someone else.

Belichick's solo history strongly suggests otherwise.

JJR4884 · Feb 28, 2017

Galeb said:
That's true, but I was referring more to coaches and front office folks.

Which trickles down to the players. I respect the fact that all of our players are tight lipped and humble. Its driven into their brains that this is all about team work and all the thing they do help the team, no matter how big or small. Everyone buys into the patriot way when they become a patriot. It makes it look like other teams have no control over there players, not a good look

Kdo5 · Feb 28, 2017

K. Dog said:
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 it has tried to be replicated. But I keep coming back to Brady and Belichick, in that order. They are special. Belichick not only knows the X's and O's better than anyone, but he is also a great leader. He has created a selfless, winning atmosphere and gets along with his players. They want to play for him, which may surprise some because he comes across as stiff and unlikeable personality wise but inside the locker room and meeting room we know that isn't true. He does all of it well. Extremely detail oriented too.

Brady...what more is there to be said. He is the smartest QB in league history and a guy who has improved his skill set year after year. He has incredible heart and leadership. You can find smart pocket QB's but without the intangibles and dedication to improve like Brady it will more often than not fail. Nobody is better at staring down adversity. He NEVER gives up believing, which trickles down to everyone else. It really is unbelievable how great the guy is.

As for contracts and players coming to win, building that atmosphere requires consistency and winning first.

It's extremely difficult to replicate the system the Pats have in place, or even come close to its consistency.

Ring 6 · Feb 28, 2017

Deus Irae said:
Belichick's solo history strongly suggests otherwise.

Not really.
He built up a terrible Cleveland team into a playoff team before Modell moved them. Had they stayed in Cleveland he was on the right path.
He 'solo' history here was the 2000 season, when he ripped apart a roster, and started rebuilding the roster, the culture and the approach.
The 16 years since have an awful lot of good coaching and decisions, that aren't all Tom Brady.

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

Deus Irae · Feb 28, 2017

AndyJohnson said:
Not really.
He built up a terrible Cleveland team into a playoff team before Modell moved them. Had they stayed in Cleveland he was on the right path.
He 'solo' history here was the 2000 season, when he ripped apart a roster, and started rebuilding the roster, the culture and the approach.
The 16 years since have an awful lot of good coaching and decisions, that aren't all Tom Brady.

Yes, really. And you omitted 2008, when he coached a team that had been 18-1 the year before, and failed to make the playoffs. You've got no history based argument here, at all. You've got "But moving forward", which would be at least arguable, but you've not nothing history based.

JJR4884 · Feb 28, 2017

AndyJohnson said:
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

Ivan · Feb 28, 2017

Count me among those who believe it's about job security. Belichick can take this approach because he's untouchable, no one else has that same situation.

Ring 6 · Feb 28, 2017

Deus Irae said:
Yes, really. And you omitted 2008, when he coached a team that had been 18-1 the year before, and failed to make the playoffs. You've got no history based argument here, at all. You've got "But moving forward", which would be at least arguable, but you've not nothing history based.

He went 11-5 with a QB who hadn't played since high school.
I have 16 years of achievements to my argument. You selectively leave them out as if they were gifted to him.

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

In the Starting Line-Up

The poster who James White said inspires him.

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Rookie

Pro Bowl Player

Rotational Player and Threatening Starter's Job

Homer Little

Third String But Playing on Special Teams

2nd Team Getting Their First Start

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Practice Squad Player

Pro Bowl Player

PatsFans.com Supporter

PatsFans.com Retired Jersey Club

Practice Squad Player

Hall of Fame Poster

PatsFans.com Supporter

Similar threads