Bill Belichick Appreciation Thread

[Pape]

Let the turmoil of yesterday settle a bit before thinking about what to post

Been to a lot of games, watched even more over the decades... We have seen the Patriots transition from a team of also rans in the 70's to a somewhat competitive team in the 1980's... While competitive, they were never consistently competing for the Lombardi

When Belichick first came here, the team was still embroiled in the fallout between Robert Kraft and Bill Parcells... Pete Carroll might have been a bit of a buffer for a few years, but Carroll and Ernie Zampese & Steve Sidwell really were just place holders while the team continued to crumble... I didn't want him as a coach, didn't think he offered much outside of maybe improving the defense... Boy was I wrong...

What he brought was consistency to the team... He brought in novel elements to the team as a whole (Ernie Adams) and promoted a team first mentality, something that had been lacking, even if we didn't know it at the time... 2000 was a tough year... The team didn't do well, somewhat similar to what occurred this year... But 2001, he took a shot a changing the dynamic of the team by putting the ball in the hands of Tom Brady... They are, and forever will be intertwined because of what they accomplished... While never flashy (except for 2007) the Patriots became the paradigm of what an NFL franchise should be... deliberate, methodical and efficient, much like the man himself...

Never thought we'd win a Super Bowl, let alone six - and even better, was able to see three if those victories in person... talk about a dream come true... 9 trips, 6 victories, and always in the hunt... The way the roster and team was maintained over the course of 20 years is nothing short of outstanding... So many moving pieces from players to staff to cap management, we became what every other franchise aspires to... The winning was handled by Brady (cannot stress this enough - Players Play, coaches lose), while Belichick ran the Patriots like they were Jeff Gordons pit crew, keeping everything in working order, with the efforts always focused on one thing - winning... attention to detail became synonymous with Bill Belichick...

What he accomplished here stands tall amongst the coaching greats... Lombardi, Walsh, Brown, The fedora guy from Dallas... Thats some heady company to keep...

Proud he was our coach for so long... Proud that he lead the franchise to so many years of unqualified success... Its something I don't think will ever be replicated in the NFL again as the game is pushed further away from its roots.

 

[upstater1]

Let the turmoil of yesterday settle a bit before thinking about what to post

Been to a lot of games, watched even more over the decades... We have seen the Patriots transition from a team of also rans in the 70's to a somewhat competitive team in the 1980's... While competitive, they were never consistently competing for the Lombardi

When Belichick first came here, the team was still embroiled in the fallout between Robert Kraft and Bill Parcells... Pete Carroll might have been a bit of a buffer for a few years, but Carroll and Ernie Zampese & Steve Sidwell really were just place holders while the team continued to crumble... I didn't want him as a coach, didn't think he offered much outside of maybe improving the defense... Boy was I wrong...

What he brought was consistency to the team... He brought in novel elements to the team as a whole (Ernie Adams) and promoted a team first mentality, something that had been lacking, even if we didn't know it at the time... 2000 was a tough year... The team didn't do well, somewhat similar to what occurred this year... But 2001, he took a shot a changing the dynamic of the team by putting the ball in the hands of Tom Brady... They are, and forever will be intertwined because of what they accomplished... While never flashy (except for 2007) the Patriots became the paradigm of what an NFL franchise should be... deliberate, methodical and efficient, much like the man himself...

Never thought we'd win a Super Bowl, let alone six - and even better, was able to see three if those victories in person... talk about a dream come true... 9 trips, 6 victories, and always in the hunt... The way the roster and team was maintained over the course of 20 years is nothing short of outstanding... So many moving pieces from players to staff to cap management, we became what every other franchise aspires to... The winning was handled by Brady (cannot stress this enough - Players Play, coaches lose), while Belichick ran the Patriots like they were Jeff Gordons pit crew, keeping everything in working order, with the efforts always focused on one thing - winning... attention to detail became synonymous with Bill Belichick...

What he accomplished here stands tall amongst the coaching greats... Lombardi, Walsh, Brown, The fedora guy from Dallas... Thats some heady company to keep...

Proud he was our coach for so long... Proud that he lead the franchise to so many years of unqualified success... Its something I don't think will ever be replicated in the NFL again as the game is pushed further away from its roots.

Great post...

I live in another NFL city so I get to hear conversations about how the other half lives. I think it's hard to appreciate the culture the Patriots had for 23 years when you're local. You may be able to remember the Carroll years maybe and realize that, though you have a Hall of Fame coach maybe (Carroll), that the foundation isn't a good one. But when you spend a quarter+ of your life seeing only one thing (greatness) it's hard to imagine how bad the fall from that consistency might actually be.

 

[Uptown]

 

[Uptown]

 

[Ring 6]

While I understand the decision, as a fan I wish BB had a chance to redeem himself here. Thanks for everything BB, you are the GOAT HC.

You wonder where we would be if he was allowed to dump 10 before this season like he wanted to.

 

[signbabybrady]

You wonder where we would be if he was allowed to dump 10 before this season like he wanted to.

Is this real?

 

[Ring 6]

Is this real?

According to wickershsm it is.

 

[sb1]

You wonder where we would be if he was allowed to dump 10 before this season like he wanted to.

The same result.

 

[signbabybrady]

According to wickershsm it is.

So who knows then. I'm sure there is plenty of truths in his many hit pieces but since there are also many proven inaccuracies it kills credibility. I'm going to need more than just Sethy's word to believe anything he writes.

 

[Wingy]

Love this one.



Yeah, this thread should be longer. Though I’ve been a complainer about “Bill the GM,” I would’ve given him more time…I’m one that thinks 6 rings should get a guy a little benefit of the doubt, but with his age I certainly understand the why of moving on.

Regardless, how could one ever be a Pats fan, and fail to appreciate Coach Belichick?
What a ride. Just unreal. Thankful for getting to watch him and TB12 do their thing so many incredible years.

 

[Brotherblues]

Every great QB of the free agency era had plenty of lean years because their coach and team didn't have their **** together year in and year out.

Tom's the goat, but Bill was crucial in ensuring he had championship potential every season for 18 years.

Now Bill wasn't the same towards the end, even before the split. Even as they made 3 straight SBs the cracks were showing (to come back from 28-3 you have to fall behind 28-3, benching Butler and giving up 40 to one of the worst SB QBs in history, offense slipping in 2018 except for that glorious showing by TB against KC in the playoffs, and the final collapse of the offense in 2019).

Squeezing two more rings while the cracks were opening made many people blind to those cracks. On the flip side, those cracks (and eventual total decay that brought us where we are) has made some folks blind to the fact that Bill afforded Tom the chance to be a true championship contender every year for 18 years. Honestly can't think of anyone else (except Reid) who could have achieved the same. Payton failed Brees hard and often. Ditto Dungy with Manning. Bill and Tom was something else altogether and I'm happy to have lived through all of it.

 

[Foxypats]

Even though the last two years were abysmal to watch, Bill is still the greatest coach ever to grace the NFL. I have so much appreciation for everything he did in New England for so long. There ae too many moments to list them all. He put all the players in a position to succeed every year, he gave players a chance when no one else wanted them and gave us fans so much joy. How does one even begin to thank him for everything he did for this organization ? I am on record as saying that the way he has been treated by the Kraft's these last few years and this last week is horrible. I have no more respect for the owners especially RK, he deserved better than all the crap they are spewing to the media.
I wish you all the best Coach, I really hope you continue coaching and bring your new team a championship. I will miss seeing you on the sidelines in Foxboro !!!

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

He also beat parcel’s patriots….

 

[Patjew]

No one is infallible, but I love, respect, and admire the man. He brought a lot of joy to my life.

 

[TheRainMaker]

Lol I was looking for this one for a while

Bill was still pissed at the stunt Mason pulled in 2004 or 2005 not taking his offer to sign with the Pats.

Mason was an idiot. Has zero titles and talks ****.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

04 post season. Held #1 offense colts to 3 points, put up 40+ against number 1 defense Steelers in their house and then won 3 of 4, yes they’re a dynasty

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Five things I appreciated most about him (I wrote this somewhere else):

1. Roster construction emphasized depth over star power. 22 starters for an NFL team, makes sense to spread it around.

2. Making sure most of the players didn't freelance, so that they could excel at what they did well.

3. Discipline. So many players go off on their coaches, they can't be counted on in the nitty gritty moments.

4. I had confidence that Belichick always had a real chance to beat you in the playoffs no matter the construction of the team (Rams in '01, Chargers in '06, Colts whenever, etc.)

5. The many times he won against one of the greatest offenses in NFL history: Denver 2013, Chiefs 2018, Atlanta 2016, Rams 2000 and 2018, and Colts 2004.

Starting with number 1 here, so many things BB brought to the game made the "old way" look stupid as surely as grunge killed 80s hair bands.

- Was it just the fact of Lawrence Taylor or his coaching of Lawrence Taylor, or both, that caused the Left Tackle to become the must-have prestige position on the O-line, and caused experimentation in offsetting the way the LT (no pun intended) lined up? Yes LT was the amazing, prototypical blitzing LB who started the modern era... but do we think BB just lucked out and coached a "natural" blitzing linebacker who freelanced his way to being the most feared QB-rusher in the league?

- Depth over star power: I remember plotting salaries and salary cap numbers in Excel to test, as best I could, this idea. At first it was SO true. We were the youngest team in the league. only TFB drew "superstar" treatment. It took a then-substantial deal to Richard Seymour to answer the question of whether they'd ever pay anybody else other than Brady.

- That ethos was more or less powerful throughout his tenure, but looked less so because there is more copying in the NFL than at Kinkos. Don't believe me? Our first SB appearance in 2002 ended forever the individual SB introductions.

- Another era-ending difference: From the days of Aikman's Cowboys onward, every team was assumed to need Triplets (Fantastic talent at QB, at least one receiver, and running back.) TFB is TFB; as to the others, Antowain Smith and David Givens say hi.

- Remember guys who "just had fun out there?" Remember gunslingers? Another set of cliches ended by BB's grim efficiency, as practiced by TFB. And throughout the latter's career, even at the end, haters were still saying Brady wasn't that great because he wasn't starring in some athletic Munchausen Syndrome drama, where you get into trouble, scramble your way out of it, throw one more TD than INT (maybe the week after your dad died) and so on. There are gunslingers and there are assassins.

I don't think the game has passed BB by, but I do think Kraft wants to be clear that he doesn't tolerate **** results forever.

I also think that even when the Pats return to greatness (sic), [BB's team here]-week will be a week when I get queasy.

He can innovate like Lombardy on LSD, he can embody discipline, he has more schemes than your first wife, and like your first wife, he had so many ways to beat you that you grew nostalgic for the good old rolling pin.

Fair Winds and Following Seas to the captain of the VI Rings if I remember the Bill's Boat name thing right. We won't look upon his like again, and neither will anybody else.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

Loved Bill the coach - I would have given him a kidney if he asked for it.

Bill the GM drove me nuts, but he was also the guy who went & got us Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison & Randy Moss.

I was doing cartwheels the weekend he signed Antonio Brown & I give Bill credit for rolling the dice on that move.

If anyone ever asked me to describe Belichick’s coaching style, I would call it fearless.

He is the guy who picked Brady over The guy Kraft just paid a Ton of Money.

The guy who kicked to Peyton Mannings Broncos in OT to get the wind.

The guy who didn’t call a time out the end of a Seattle Super Bowl to force a quick decision to throw the interception

Bill may not have always made the right call, by he was never worried about making the popular call.

 

[Keep Up With The Joneses]

It's amazing to me how short this thread is. There is no doubt Brady is the cornerstone of the rings, but I will continue to believe they don't happen without Bill. How easily we forget.

 

[archstanton543]

It's amazing to me how short this thread is. There is no doubt Brady is the cornerstone of the rings, but I will continue to believe they don't happen without Bill. How easily we forget.

What's left to be said?