Belichick’s Patriots need a hard reboot, not an extended epilogue
Oliver Bateman
It’s time for the New England Patriots‘ 71-year-old coach, Bill Belichick, to retire. This isn’t an indictment of the enigmatic, hoodie-clad coach’s illustrious career, which resulted in six Super Bowl titles. Instead, it’s a call for closing the door on a now-bygone era in the NFL. This period wasn’t merely the epoch of Belichick; it was the Belichick-Tom Brady era — a two-decade-long dynasty that increasingly seems to be more attributable to Brady’s football acumen than Belichick’s alleged coaching wizardry.
Bill Belichick has his motivations for staying in the game. Like Tom Brady, who added a seventh Super Bowl title to his name with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Belichick aims to prove he still possesses the Midas touch. He wants to surpass longtime Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula’s regular-season and all-time win records (328 regular-season wins, 347 counting the playoffs). Yet, when one examines their records closely, Belichick might never be able to conclusively prove he was a better coach than Shula. Shula guided two different teams to the Super Bowl and even successfully concluded an undefeated season with a Super Bowl triumph, something that narrowly eluded Belichick’s best team in 2007.
MICHAEL CAINE BLEW THE BLOODY DOORS OFF
In many ways, Don Shula did everything that Bill Belichick couldn’t. While Shula excelled in adapting to different quarterbacks and saw success across four different decades, Belichick has been a product of a particular era. His rule primarily spanned from the early 2000s to the late 2010s, and notably, his coaching career before and after Brady has been less than inspiring.
Before that, Belichick was unable to transform the Cleveland Browns into a competitive outfit in the mid-90s behind quarterback Vinny Testaverde. And his latest protege, Mac Jones, has regressed in his three-year tenure. The once-promising quarterback from Alabama has been part of a disappointing 2-5 start this season, raising significant questions about Belichick’s ability to develop quarterbacks not named Tom Brady.
Even Tedy Bruschi, a former Patriots star and Belichick stalwart, seems to be on the bandwagon that it’s time for Belichick to step aside. In a recent interview, he stated that Belichick should aim for a respectable performance this season and then gracefully exit, saying, “Shula doesn’t matter.”
Yet Don Shula’s specter continues to matter to Belichick. The discord between the two dates back to the infamous 2007 “Spygate” scandal, when Shula criticized Belichick’s methods, suggesting that videotaping and stealing other teams’ signals tarnished the Patriots’ legacy. This seems to have kindled a sort of pettiness in Belichick. The relentless drive to outdo Shula could very well be a quest to vindicate his own legacy. Yet one wonders if this Ahab-like obsession with surpassing Shula’s record is in fact leading Belichick to the rocky shoals of professional frustration.
Belichick is far from the first prominent figure to have overstayed his prime. In politics, octogenarian leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell have clung to power for so long that they’ve become symbolic of a certain kind of political stagnation. Then there is Joe Paterno, the Penn State football icon, whose squeaky-clean five-decade coaching career met an ignominious end when stories of a trusted assistant’s sexual indiscretions with minors came to light. These are cautionary tales for any enduring figure in power: There’s a fine line between a long, storied career and overstaying one’s welcome.
The New England Patriots today are not a team in the throes of rebuilding. Belichick, ever the tinkerer, has not enacted sweeping changes. Instead, the team continues to be populated by veterans past their prime working on cheap deals — such as Ezekiel Elliott, Mike Gesicki, and JuJu Smith-Schuster, to name three of this year’s underperformers — signaling that Belichick still aims to win now, rather than build for the future. This hesitance stalls the franchise’s evolution and keeps them in a competitive limbo.
Adding to the intrigue, news recently broke that Belichick quietly inked a new contract, with an accompanying lucrative buyout clause. Was this a calculated move to shut down rumors of his potential departure? Perhaps not: Patriots owner Robert Kraft has not commented on whether the storied coach will be with the team after the season, leaving room for speculation. By not voicing support, Kraft may be signaling that even legends have a sell-by date.
So, what is the ultimate reckoning for Bill Belichick? His tenure has certainly been transformative for the NFL, particularly in how he paired with Tom Brady to create a sports dynasty. Yet, the dynamics of the league, and indeed the Patriots, have shifted. Other franchises, like the Kansas City Chiefs, have emerged as dynasties. Clinging to past glories while stumbling in the present only serves to tarnish that once-sterling reputation. Don Shula, for all his achievements, retired at 66 because he wasn’t afraid to step aside for the future. The question now is whether Belichick will take that lesson to heart or instead find himself escorted from the throne he once ruled, much like Cowboys coaching legend Tom Landry before him was shunted aside for the bright future represented by Jimmy Johnson.
In a story recorded by Herodotus, Solon told Croesus, the ancient king of Lydia, that no man can be deemed fortunate until the last act of his life is known. The core principle applies to Belichick. His career’s final chapters will either make him a sage who knew when to step back or yet another cautionary tale for those who cling too long to the twilight of their careers.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Oliver Bateman is a journalist, historian, and co-host of the What’s Left? podcast. Visit his website: www.oliverbateman.com.