FOXBOROUGH – A seismic shift in the Earth occurred on Wednesday with the retirement of Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
Perhaps a bigger one occurred the next day in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
It was not totally unexpected, but it still comes as a very humbling moment. For an entire generation of Patriot Nation, it brings to an end the only epoch in Patriot history they have ever known. For older fans, it signals the end of a long visit to a football oasis after a seemingly endless journey through a hot and dry desert.
Bill Belichick and Bob Kraft held a joint press conference Thursday at noon to announce and acknowledge that they have both mutually agreed to part ways. Both men, especially Kraft, stressed that the parting was amicable. The men appeared together, spoke separately, then left without taking questions.
Both men appeared to be very emotional in addressing the media. Both men’s voices cracked at times. Belichick looked a little more upbeat, but Kraft looked more tired. Each man spoke for about five minutes.
Suffice it to say that all media types, experts and fans will speak longer than five minutes of what has to be the most successful owner/coach collaboration in the history of the NFL, if not pro sports in general. Trying to encapsulate the tenure of Belichick in about a thousand words is not really possible.
Belichick called Thursday a day of “gratitude and celebration”. He began by thanking the Kraft family for their support, then moved on to many other important people in his life. He thanked the media and told them that he “respected” what they do, although most of his press conferences suggested otherwise. He profusely thanked the fans, and acknowledged the Patriot fans he saw in Germany. He also thanked the players, noting that “players win the games” and speaking warmly about his time with them.
Kraft restated the fact that they were parting by mutual agreement, then stressed the word “amicably”. He began by stating that “like a marriage, it requires hard work” to be together for 24 years, and he “regretted not hiring him in 1996” when Bill Parcells bolted the Patriots for the Jets after Super Bowl XXXI. Kraft stated that Belichick should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, even though Belichick’s career is not yet over. He wished Belichick well, except when he comes to play against the Patriots.
The two men posed for several hundred camera shutter clicks, then quietly left the dias. Kraft mentioned that Belichick “has a cold, so I’m not going to kiss him”. And with that, the Belichick Era officially came to an end in Foxborough.
Hired in 2000 after a bizarre ascension to the New York Jets head coaching job which he wanted no part of, Kraft acquired Belichick for a first round draft pick. The first draft in Patriot history proctored by Belichick had no first round pick, which was sent to the Jets for he himself. The first pick in the second round was current offensive line coach Adrian Klemm. Way down in the sixth round, the Patriots scooped up some quarterback from Michigan named Tom Brady.
An end of an era in New England for Bill Belichick. (PHOTO: USA TODAY Images)
When Drew Bledsoe was injured in Week 2 of the following year, the Patriot dynasty was launched. Nobody could have known at the time that both Brady and Belichick would ascend to the pinnacle of their professions in due time. The Patriots ended that year as Super Bowl champions, and did so again for two of the next three seasons. By the time Super Bowl XXXIX was over, the Patriots had a bona fide dynasty and New England fans could not believe what was going on.
The next title would wait ten years. But along the way, the 2007 Patriots became the first (and only) team in NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season. They ran it to 18-0 before a shocking loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLII. Other franchises would have crumbled from a loss like that, but not the Patriots.
Brady was injured the next year and the Patriots lost a ton of tiebreakers to become only the second 11-5 team in league history to miss the playoffs. They would rebound, and in a year where Kraft’s wife Myra passed away from cancer, the Patriots made it back to the Super Bowl but once again suffered a shocking loss to the Giants.
Three years later, the Patriots were back in the Super Bowl against the (at the time) champion Seattle Seahawks, coached by the last Patriot head coach, Pete Carroll. A disastrous late game play call secured a 28-24 Patriot win, and Carroll took a major PR hit with that play call. It just so happens that on Wednesday, the same day Saban retired, Seattle kicked Carroll up to the front office and fired him as head coach.
The Patriots went on a four Super Bowl run in five years, winning three times and losing once, Super Bowl LII. Belichick inexplicably benched Malcolm Butler, the hero in the win over Seattle, and the Patriot defense played a horrible game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots came back and won Super Bowl LIII against the Rams in the lowest scoring Super Bowl ever.
Some experts think that Super Bowl LI is the best Super Bowl ever. The Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons, 28-3 in the third quarter. The Patriots fought back and tied the game just before the end of regulation, then won it in overtime 34-28. Brady earned his fourth Super Bowl MVP, but Belichick authored the greatest comeback in the history of the NFL.
His game planning and game execution was unsurpassed in league history. When he was defensive coordinator of the Giants, his defensive game plan for Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills was sent to the Hall of Fame. He has had many other games in his career which should also merit such consideration. From that first Super Bowl win over the Rams in 2001 to the stifling of that same Rams team 17 years later, Belichick was the chessmaster of the NFL.
Belichick will continue his pursuit of Don Shula’s all-time coaching win record somewhere else. He is 26 wins short. This will tell for sure if the game has passed Belichick by. With Kraft wanting to go in another direction in Foxborough, he has to believe that even with bringing in front office help, Belichick is no longer the best option to remain as head coach. Right now, Atlanta seems to be the leading candidate to hire Belichick as their new head coach.
So now, what happens to the Patriots?
The fan base will pause and reflect on what has to be the greatest run of success they have ever seen, or will ever see. Older fans remember the Celtics dynasty under Red Auerbach, which included 16 seasons as head coach and nine titles. Since Super Bowl XXXVI, Boston and New England area teams have won 12 titles, which is unheard of for any one city or fan base. But fans will also wonder if the Patriots will ever be good again, never mind this good again.
The new head coach will probably be Jerod Mayo or Mike Vrabel. That will be decided sooner rather than later. A new general manager may also be brought in. The Patriots will be restructured, and how things have been done in Fort Foxborough will be different.
But things will never be the same. A new era has begun, an era that is largely unknown and without definition or direction. Seeing Belichick walk away is hard to fathom for everyone. Nothing is forever, but when the end comes, it’s still a painful thing to go through.
For now, you all have the memories. They will be as fresh as the next time you watch them on your Blu-Ray player. You will see them on television. The NFL Network will never let you forget Belichick or his legacy. Local media outlets will also keep him fresh in your memory banks. He will be the epitome of “gone but never forgotten”.
Just sit back, relax, and relish the thought that you saw your team coached by the best that ever was. For Patriot Nation, that cannot be taken away and is a wonderful thing to have in perpetuity.
We invite you to catch Bob George’s new Boston Sports Podcast, broadcast every weekday on YouTube. Go to YouTube handle thepic413 to view the podcasts. Please click on the Subscribe button so you don’t miss any of the podcasts.
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Covering Boston Sports since 1997. Native of Worcester, Mass. Attended UMass and Univ of Michigan. Lives in California. Just recently retired after 40 years of public school teaching. Podcasts on YouTube at @thepic4139
