I firmly believe this saying,one that was said by Spurs NBA Coach Gregg Popovich many years ago and one that Belichick himself has followed all these years.
I am a fan of the TEAM - Its never been ONE player and it never will be.
I love Brady now and even when he goes to his new team and thank him for 20 glorious seasons,I thank him for his job in playing a big role in winning 6 Super Bowl Titles and the AFC East almost every season but as the saying goes Brady would not have done all this without his teammates and no one player is a dynasty by himself.
The Patriots are likely going to take a step backwards sans the leadership in Brady gone but you can't go forward if you are stuck in neutral and have to try and pick up the pieces and move on.
If it takes awhile to get back to eliteness so be it,The team will be competitive as long as Belichick remains head coach
I think Jacoby Brissett returns now with Rivers in Indy so at least we have a player with familiarity should this happen - We will see
There is a corollary to your title:
" No Coach is bigger than the Team".
That's a fact.
Coaching is more important in the NFL than other team sport. That's a given.
The game has evolved into a very complex thing with many moving parts.
Great coaching wins games. Bad coaching loses them.
BB is the greatest football coach in history, on any level. That's my opinion, shared by many.
But QB is by far the single position in all of team sports that has the biggest impact on winning or losing.
That's much truer today and over the past 20 years than before that. That's a given.
Brady is the greatest QB of all time.
That's a given.
I love BB. He agrees with me. He said:
" Players win games. Coaches lose them".
He's right.
Brady won the 2 greatest comebacks in SB history, vs. Seattle and Atlanta, not BB. BB played a major role, but not as big as Brady.
I think BB has a bigger impact on winning than any player EXCEPT an elite QB. BB > JJ Watt, Gilmore,Donald,RLewis,Revis,Gronk,Moss,etc.
But not just Brady, in their primes,at their best, Peyton,Brees,Rodgers,Mahomes,Marino,Montana etc. all would have a bigger impact on winning than BB, if he was their coach. That's a fact
An elite QB is in a totally different class of any other NFL player, no matter how great.
Aaron Donald and SGilmore will never impact a game as much as Mahomes.
Brady had more to do with the Pats dynasty than BB. And Bill would be the first to tell you that.