Bill Belichick is the coach/GM of the Patriots.
We as fans root for the team. Criticizing the coach/GM does not in fact make you less of a fan. I think this is a bad overall look for quite a few to equate Belichick criticism with “you don’t even like the team and are just a Brady fan.” Frankly that’s BS.
Maybe some people are getting extreme and saying they want Belichick gone and maybe the criticism is overboard. But it doesn’t mean it should be moderated out of discussions. Here’s something: Belichick has full autonomy over the team; virtually every coach is one of his disciples; they don’t hire outside people to challenge him; the owner just went all-in by choosing him. Given that, fans may be the only ones who actually demand
any accountability or consequences. Have you heard anyone from the organization second guess him for the 2020 offseason, or numerous legitimate mistakes that have been chronicled here? I haven’t.
There are pros but also cons in giving someone full autonomy and all homegrown staff because they develop blind spots to their weaknesses and impunity from criticism. And sorry, but self-criticism and “doing what’s in the team’s best interest” is not the same thing, as they are subjective.
I remember a **** ton of criticism for
@Biffins about Antonio Brown and releasing Brady. Guess what? Sometimes “extreme” takes can be closer to the truth than than the mainstream ones.
You all might laugh at me, but Bill Belichick is going to nosedive this franchise if he continues to work only with coordinators and assistants that he groomed and scouts that he taught. It’s bothersome that there truly seems to be no opposition, and it’s reflected by fans too. Pushback is good. I think the outpouring of criticism now is an overreaction but a lot of people realizing that (a) Bill is wrong sometimes too, and (b) now that the team is no longer trending upward, how much leeway should he get? A lot of ignored past mistakes come to the surface.
Do you know what happened in 2009-12? Floyd Reese came in from Tennessee and advised the Patriots to their most fruitful drafting period under Belichick. Edelman, Chung, Gronkowski, McCourty, Ebner, Hightower, Jones. After he left, it was back to Caserio and a horrendous period of scouting.
Bill is great, but the great ones moreso than anyone need people to challenge them, criticize them, and present new ideas. Fans who want to do it constructively and backed by facts and an honest opinion, shouldn’t be marginalized.
@Ian