There won't be a 25th season in New England for Bill Belichick. After four largely aimless campaigns, ownership decided the time is now to modernize the organization and move on from the coach who helped lead this franchise to unprecedented heights.
There is no joy in Foxborough, nor should there be. Even as complicated as he is, saying goodbye to Belichick was not a decision that didn't come without some serious angst and even a little uncertainty. There is, after all, evidence that Belichick can still coach. Still, he picked the groceries and decided who to keep counsel with on his coaching staff. Eventually, that approach resulted in more losses than wins, which is what all coaches are ultimately measured on. Thus, it is a bitter ending to a historical run, one likely never to be duplicated again.
While the franchise had little pockets of success - the Chuck Fairbanks era, the improbable Super Bowl trip in '85-86, and of course, the Parcells/Bledsoe-fueled run to the '96-97 Big Game - nothing changed the direction of the franchise more than Robert Kraft's hiring of Belichick in 2000, and the drafting of Tom Brady a few months later. It took a little over a year for the program's roots to grab hold of the ground, but when they did, the Patriots climbed rapidly.
From 2001 through the 2018-19 season, the Pats were the team to beat, with unmatched success. Try nine Super Bowl trips and six titles. The latter is two more than the next best, Chuck Noll, and three more than Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh. In other words, Belichick and the Patriots were in a league of their own.
Getting there was the definition of a grind, day in and day out.
"You can't look back," Belichick said in an interview with CNBC in 2017. "We don't talk about last year. We don't talk about next week. We talk about today, and we talk about the next game. That's all we can really control."
Belichick was constantly poking and prodding, often angrily, in attempts to get his team to not only play their best but practice that way as well. I can't tell you how many times a player would call Belichick a bad word or series of bad words in conversations about his unyielding approach. However, in the next breath, acknowledge there was no arguing with the results - at least until recent years.
It didn't matter who you were. The stories of him taking apart Brady during Monday morning lowlight film sessions are legendary and set a tone for the entire team. If Tom wasn't above reproach, then no one was safe. Fear can be one hell of a motivator. It was here.
"I don't care if they're a star player," Belichick told CNBC. "I don't care who they are. You have to set the tone."
But that approach would have been less practical if Belichick's wasn't an X's and O's wizard. There are countless examples, but several will remain seared in my brain:
- The first Super Bowl. Deciding that the best chance to stop the "Greatest Show of Turf" was to beat the holy hell out of Marshall Faulk. Willie McGinest, Mike Vrabel, and whoever else had a chance were told explicitly to concentrate on hitting Faulk first, then rushing the passer or dropping into the zones. He finished with 130 total yards but just 17 receiving (and still hasn't gotten over it) and the Pats began their dynastic run.
- The 2003 AFC title game against the Colts. Rodney Harrison lining up in press coverage against Marvin Harrison, with Ty Law playing over the top of him. What in the wide world of sports? It was just one of many looks Belichick had his defense use, getting so physical with Indy's skilled receivers that then GM Bill Polian used it as an example to change the game's rules and make it harder and harder to play "D."
- 2015 AFC Playoffs against the Ravens. That was the infamous "trick" play game, where the Pats had only four offensive linemen on the field for a number of plays, fooling Baltimore and helping to erase a pair of 14-point deficit. It also led to John Harbaugh losing his mind on the sideline and Tom Brady saying afterward, "Learn the rulebook."
- 2018 AFC title game in Kansas City. The Chiefs hadn't been shut out in any half all season. The Pats did that in the first half, using a young Jon Jones head-up on Tyreek Hill but having Devin McCourty almost always on Hill's side, eliminating the big play ability early. They also put a corner on Travis Kelce. No one operated that way or had success when they did until then. The Chiefs had 32 yards at the half, and Patrick Mahomes was sacked thrice for 43 yards.
- The last Super Bowl win was 13-3 over the Rams. Sean McVay schemed an offense led by Jared Goff to average 30 points per game. Yet that high-powered unit was flummoxed by the Pats, among other things, taking away the crossing routes that made that group so dynamic. "Don't be afraid to use a good idea just because it's unconventional and just because someone else hasn't done it," Belichick once said. "If you believe it's a good idea, then don't be afraid to use it."
Even today, some in the building - players included - still marvel at Belichick's ability to accurately project how the upcoming game will play out. Of course, getting the players to play that way consistently has been problematic for several years now, which is, in part, how we got here. But there is no denying what Belichick accomplished and the expectations he set for this franchise on a year-in and year-out basis, and for better or worse, what all those who try to fill his shoes will be judged on.