Invoice Belichick has amassed 333 complete teaching victories within the NFL, second solely to the late Don Shula. He coached the New England Patriots to 6 Tremendous Bowl victories and served as defensive coordinator on two Tremendous Bowl-winning editions of the New York Giants. He possesses a genius-level data of the NFL, not simply by way of X’s and O’s but in addition the A-B-C’s of the sport’s wealthy historical past. And but his pivot to school soccer — he was launched Thursday as the brand new head coach on the College of North Carolina — has been met with various levels of skepticism, raised eyebrows and even outright hilarity.
Why, one could ask, is a coach who has achieved a lot being handled in such a destructive mild? A part of the issue is Belichick’s spectacularly stiff and grumpy public persona, however it’s a lot deeper than that. Let’s study a few of the causes, actual and imagined, why the mere point out of Belichick’s identify evokes so many various reactions from folks.
GO DEEPER
Feldman: No cause Belichick cannot have success at UNC. Simply do not count on him to final lengthy
‘He by no means received something with out Tom Brady‘
It at all times begins right here, does it not? Belichick is the best coach in soccer historical past if the accounting is proscribed to Tremendous Bowl rings, however there’s at all times that nagging Tom Brady challenge that raises two questions: 1) What has Belichick received with out Brady, and a couple of) Has a Bradyless existence uncovered Belichick’s lack of ability to get the job finished at this stage of his profession?
Reality: With out getting too particular with the numbers, comparable to weaving within the video games wherein Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo had been quarterbacking the Patriots in 2016 whereas Brady was sitting out his four-game “Deflategate” suspension, the large image is that Belichick has received six Tremendous Bowls with Brady as his quarterback and none with out Brady as his quarterback.
Reality: Belichick didn’t win any Tremendous Bowls in the course of the 5 seasons he coached the unique Cleveland Browns. He didn’t win one in his first 12 months in New England when Brady was a rookie whose sole look was a Thanksgiving Day cameo towards the Detroit Lions. He didn’t win one within the 4 post-Brady seasons in New England.
However on the danger of getting too lawyerly, what’s additionally true is that Belichick and Brady, as a coach-quarterback tandem, mixed to win six Tremendous Bowls. That’s an inconvenient reality to hardened Belichick bashers, however to take away it from the dialogue is to imagine Brady would have quarterbacked the Patriots to 6 Tremendous Bowl victories whatever the coach. These forms of alternate historic timelines are enjoyable within the “Again to the Future” films however don’t work right here in the true world.
Dishonest controversies
There’s actually no getting round this one. In 2007, Belichick and the Patriots group had been disciplined by the NFL after it had been decided they videotaped indicators by New York Jets defensive coaches throughout New England’s season-opening 38-14 victory at Giants Stadium.
The Patriots had been fined $250,000 and misplaced their first-round decide within the 2008 draft. Belichick was fined $500,000. It was this “Spygate” scandal that resulted in Belichick being branded as “Beli-cheat,” a nickname his critics are comfortable to interrupt out of mothballs at any time when they’re within the temper.
Years later, the Patriots had been embroiled in one other dishonest controversy when Brady was investigated for allegedly utilizing underinflated footballs in New England’s 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts within the 2014 AFC Championship Recreation. The NFL’s investigation, which dragged on within the courts for nicely over a 12 months earlier than Brady was lastly suspended for the primary 4 video games of the 2016 season, was extensively criticized as a colossal overreach by the NFL. And, anyway, Belichick was by no means implicated.
However Spygate typically will get twinned up with Deflategate in any dialogue of the Belichick period in New England, as is former San Diego Chargers working again LaDainian Tomlinson’s blistering 2007 remark that, “I believe the Patriots truly stay by the saying, ‘If you happen to’re not cheatin’, you’re not attempting.’ You retain listening to the totally different tales of individuals complaining about stuff that they do. So I’m not shocked.”
Spygate was an inexpensive stunt by Belichick that apparently didn’t yield a lot info. He deserves to put on this one. And to not pile on with Deflategate, however Belichick has lengthy been cheered as the last word micromanager and a grasp of attending to each final teeny-weeny element. If his supporters wish to enter these speaking factors into the dialogue, his critics ought to be granted license to say, “OK, then he ought to have recognized anyone was goofing with the footballs.”
The Kraftmatic Adjustable Storyline
Following the 2023 season, throughout which New England went 4-13, Belichick was fired by Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft, thus ending one of many biggest teaching runs in NFL historical past. Solely it wasn’t portrayed as a “firing” by Kraft. As a substitute, it was offered as a “mutual parting of the way,” with the 2 males showing collectively at a Gillette Stadium information convention and fumbling by way of one of the crucial awkward hugs in sports activities historical past.
“The person standing to my left introduced the management and training abilities that had been wanted to make the kind of unprecedented success that we’ve got had potential,” Kraft mentioned that day. “Coach Belichick will endlessly be celebrated as a legendary sports activities icon right here in New England and I consider go in as a Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer on the primary poll. Why? As a result of he’s the best coach of all time.”
But Kraft had much less flattering issues to say about his former coach in “The Dynasty,” the 10-part TV docuseries that aired in early 2024. Amongst them, Kraft used the event to dish that he referred to as Belichick a “schmuck” within the aftermath of the Spygate scandal. The quote had been reported years earlier, however solely by supply; right here now was Kraft talking the phrase on digital camera and feeling fairly snug doing so. It wasn’t like some off-camera interviewer lured Kraft right into a lure.
Belichick didn’t come out of “The Dynasty” wanting good. However it might have backfired on Kraft, who in 2024 was once more denied his dream of being elected to the Professional Soccer Corridor of Fame.
Meet the brand new coach, identical because the very outdated coach
Belichick, who turns 73 on April 16, would be the oldest energetic coach in school soccer in 2025. However he was already being dismissed as too outdated and out of contact throughout his previous couple of seasons in New England, at a time when the NFL was starting to look to a lot youthful coaches to run their groups. Sean McVay is a major instance: He was simply 31 in his first season as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, and 35 when he coached the ’21 Rams towards a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Tremendous Bowl LVI.
Mike Felger, the longtime afternoon drive host at Boston’s 98.5 The Sports activities Hub, typically makes reference to “tight-pants coaches” — youthful, well-built coaches who’re steeped in analytics and are believed to have the sensibilities to narrate with fashionable gamers. However to dismiss Belichick solely due to his age is to disregard a pattern within the fashionable American workforce, says Debra Whitman, govt vp and chief coverage officer at AARP.
“The share of staff over age 75 is the one a part of our (American) labor pressure that’s predicted to develop,” Whitman mentioned. “Individuals wish to work, or they should work — they both want the cash or they like to work.” (In Belichick’s case, it’s the love of the work. He actually doesn’t want the cash.)
Whitman, writer of “The Second Fifty: Solutions to the 7 Massive Questions of Midlife and Past,” believes there’s a “enormous worth to society in maintaining individuals who have a number of expertise and data engaged.”
In accordance with Whitman, analysis by the Group of Financial Improvement and Cooperation has proven {that a} multi-generational workforce “truly makes a office extra productive.”
GO DEEPER
What do prime prospects and highschool coaches take into consideration the Invoice Belichick rent?
They might not speak about it on ‘Contained in the NFL,’ however he’s not in style contained in the NFL
As reported by The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, one of many causes Belichick hasn’t been provided a head-coaching job within the NFL since leaving the Patriots is, within the phrases of a high-ranking staff govt, “(Belichick) burned a whole lot of bridges over his profession.”
In that case, it’s not simply Spygate that ruffled feathers within the NFL. Dishonest scandals occur on a regular basis in skilled sports activities, whereupon fines and suspensions are levied, however there are often avenues for redemption. Contemplate what occurred in MLB after supervisor A.J. Hinch and bench coach Alex Cora had been suspended for a 12 months following a sign-stealing scandal involving the 2017 Houston Astros. Hinch was later employed as supervisor of the Detroit Tigers. Cora, who had moved on to Boston and managed the Crimson Sox to a World Sequence championship in 2018, was fired by the membership after the 2019 season, sat out 2020 and was rehired for 2021.
Invoice Belichick isn’t precisely Joe School
The lede to a column by The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel on Belichick touchdown the UNC job minces no phrases: “Congratulations, North Carolina. You managed to rent somebody utterly unqualified to be your subsequent soccer coach. You probably did that factor so many colleges do the place they attempt to win the press convention as a substitute of win soccer video games. It not often works.”
Belichick has by no means coached school soccer at any stage, beneath any title. Sure, his father, the late Steve Belichick, had a protracted and storied profession as an assistant school coach, principally at the USA Naval Academy. Sure, Belichick’s son, additionally named Steve, is the defensive coordinator on the College of Washington. And, sure, Invoice Belichick made some visits to Washington practices final spring.
None of that provides as much as precise school teaching expertise, even when Belichick went to extraordinary lengths at his introductory information convention to make it seem that is the place he’s needed to be all alongside.
“I at all times needed to teach in school soccer,” Belichick mentioned. “It simply by no means actually labored out. I had some good years within the NFL, in order that was OK. That is actually sort of a dream come true.”
That’s a tough one to get behind, however we’ll play alongside. Can it work? We posed the query to former Patriots working again Kevin Faulk, who performed beneath Belichick for 13 seasons, together with three Tremendous Bowl championship groups.
“Invoice will determine it out,” Faulk mentioned. “When he’s coping with soccer, he’s all in.”
And but even Faulk felt the necessity to wave a warning flag.
“The children should not what they was,” Faulk mentioned. “I really feel like there’s some actual problem he’s going to need to undergo.”
A brand new period for @UNCFootball.
Invoice Belichick talks to @MartySmithESPN about his choice to return to North Carolina 🐏 pic.twitter.com/PKZ8Okadub
— ACC Community (@accnetwork) December 13, 2024
Belichick hates the media
Make no mistake: Belichick has by no means loved his classes with the media, and over time he developed a expertise for sidestepping even fundamental questions. “We did what was finest for the staff,” he’d typically say.
But it surely was by no means Belichick’s model to be bombastic or confrontational. He’d generally roll out a infantile staredown when confronted with an undesirable line of questioning, however these makes an attempt got here throughout as comical, not menacing. He may even be humorous as soon as each 4 or 5 years, comparable to when he dropped in a reference to the Mona Lisa Vito character from the movie “My Cousin Vinny” in the course of the Deflategate saga.
Primarily based on a random tour of the protection of Belichick this week, the tough stuff is coming from exterior New England. However whereas Belichick’s sullen information convention performances by no means did him any hurt again within the day — comparable to when the Patriots had been competing for Tremendous Bowls yearly — he’ll be smart to clean up the act at Chapel Hill.
Nothing says “outdated man yelling at a cloud” like being sullen with the 19-year-old child from the faculty paper.
(Picture of Invoice Belichick and Robert Kraft: Maddie Meyer / Getty Pictures)
Extra on Belichick
Why Invoice Belichick deserted hope of touchdown NFL job, pursuit of wins report
Why is Invoice Belichick heading to North Carolina? It’s all about management
Has Invoice Belichick closed the door on NFL victories report? There’s nonetheless time to guage
For UNC, hiring Invoice Belichick was a danger it couldn’t afford to not take
