It was inevitable, the breakup of the 24-year marriage between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick. The end of an era, one that you will never see again. The following is the success that Bill Belichick had as coach of the New England Patriots:
24 Seasons as Patriots Head Coach / 6 Super Bowl Victories and 9 Super Bowl Appearances. The only coach to win 6 Super Bowls. 2 more Super Bowl wins as an assistant coach with the New York Giants
3X AP NFL Coach of the Year
31 The Most Post Season Wins by a Head Coach
9 AFC Championships / Most in the Super Bowl / Salary Cap era
17 AFC East Titles – Most ever for an NFL coach
261-133 (,690) record
2001 – 2019 19 Straight Winning Seasons
2007 Undefeated untied regular season – only one to win 16 games.
2010-2019 won 141 games more than any coach in a 10-year period.
2021 PFWA Executive of the Year
Bill Belichick will end up as the greatest coach in NFL history and a future 1st year ballot inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
This was the classiest way this relationship could end, a mutually agreed to parting of the ways. Robert Kraft was asked if he explored trading Bill Belichick, and his response was that they agreed that Belichick would be treated in the same way that Tom Brady was treated, and they would just allow him to leave. Bottom line is that Kraft paid Bill Belichick the $25M that is remaining on his contract and allow him to choose what team he wants to go to without compensation, to get him to agree to the “mutually agreed, amicable” divorce. Robert Kraft does not want to be known as the owner that fired the greatest coach of all time.
Belichick the coach was the ultimate in attention to detail. He got the best out of each player and made mediocre players better than they were. Belichick was known for taking an individual player and coaching them up individually. He knew the nuances of each and every position. There is no question about the value of Belichick the coach. It was Belichick the General Manager that ended up being the problem. This 4-13 team’s problems were all of Belichick the GM making. There was no one that knows the history of the NFL any better than Bill Belichick. His knowledge of the rules was uncanny. The best example of this was the playoff game versus the Baltimore Ravens where he split out an Offensive Tackle and made it appear that he was an eligible receiver, when he was not. He was on the line, but the Ravens still put a DB on him. Jim Harbaugh was livid with this formation on the sideline and didn’t have time to remedy it. He finally had to call a timeout, three plays later to get his defense set.
Many books have been written about Bill Belichick and there will probably be more in the future. We got the insight into Bill Belichick the man, the coach and the father. None better than a young Bill Belichick studying game film in his dorm room at Phillips Academy with his friend Ernie Adams. He is driven to succeed. He wants that record for the most wins by a head coach. Don Shula holds the record with 328 wins. George Halas is second with 318 and Belichick is third with 302. Belichick could not obtain that record with the poor Patriots team that he created. He needed a team that was closest to making the playoffs and could get him that record in three years. Belichick is 71 years old.
He has been called a football genius and a mastermind, but he started as a young man right out of college at Wesleyan University. His 1st job was for the old Baltimore Colts and Ted Marchibroda, as a special assistant making $25 a week. He didn’t even have enough money to get an apartment and slept on a cot at the stadium. Humble beginning for the guy that would go on to become the greatest Head Coach of all-time.
For some Patriots fans Bill Belichick is the only coach they know. The success over thew 24 years has been incredible and it’s been a great ride that eventually had to come to an end. Today was that day. Thank You Bill Belichick for everything you have done for this franchise and the enjoyment that you have given the fans of the New England Patriots.
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Merrimack Valley native and lifelong fan of the New England Patriots. My earliest memories of the Patriots were attending as a child with my dad, the off-season practice at Phillips Academy. I was at the Patriots game at Harvard Stadium in 1970 where Bob “Harpo” Gladieux was called out of the stands by the stadium announcer over the PA to play in the game. Analyzing the draft since ESPN first started to televise it in 1980 and former writer for the Lowell Sun Newspaper.
