The post-Tom Brady era in New England has seen more lows than highs. After missing the postseason only once between 2003 and 2019, the Patriots have now missed the playoffs in two of the past three seasons. As a result, owner Robert Kraft is reportedly getting antsy, and he may be pointing the finger at his iconic head coach.
During an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show, NBC Sports Boston’s Tom Curran acknowledged that coach Bill Belichick is currently on the hot seat and has “been there at different levels of warmth since 2019” (Twitter link). While Curran notes that Kraft has recently walked back his demand for a playoff win (something that’s eluded the organization since their last Super Bowl in 2018), the reporter also believes that the organization could consider drastic changes if the team disappoints in 2023.
As Curran hints, Belichick’s approval rating in New England started to see some cracks in 2019. That year, Belichick and the front office refused to commit to Brady beyond that season, and the QB ended up leaving the organization for Tampa Bay in 2020. While Brady going on to win a championship with the Buccaneers surely ruffled some feathers in Foxborough, Curran believes Kraft was most upset that the Patriots didn’t have a plan at the position for the 2020 campaign. The team ended up rolling with free agent Cam Newton as their starter and won only seven games, the organization’s fewest amount since the 2000 season.
The team managed to bounce back in 2021 with a rookie Mac Jones under center, but the wheels fell off in 2022. Belichick did little to replace offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who left for the head coaching job in Las Vegas. Belichick turned to former defensive coordinator Matt Patricia and former special teams coordinator Joe Judge to lead the offense, and the results were predictably disastrous. There’s been various reports about how much Kraft influenced Belichick’s decision to hire Bill O’Brien for the OC job this offseason, but either way, the owner clearly wasn’t happy with the on-field product in 2022.
Complicating the matter is Belichick’s ongoing pursuit of the all-time wins record. The 71-year-old is 19 wins behind Don Shula for the all-time record (regular season and playoffs), and there’s little chance Belichick or Kraft make a move until the record is set. That would mean the Patriots head coach is locked in through at least the 2024 campaign, but depending on the results of the 2023 season, the team’s owner may not want to wait that long to make a move.
If Kraft does decide to make a head coaching change following the 2023 season, it sounds like the replacement is already in-house. Defensive coordinator Jerod Mayo ended up turning down head coaching interviews this offseason to stick in New England, and it’s believed he’s the heir apparent for the Patriots head coaching gig. Mayo played under Belichick before recently serving as the team’s de facto co-DC alongside Belichick’s son, Steve Belichick. In this scenario, the elder Belichick would likely transition to an advisory role, and Curran believes that the future Hall of Famer would be in support of a Mayo promotion. Of course, that support would be contingent on Belichick ending his coaching career on his own terms.
Brady certainly did better without Belichick than Belichick has done without Brady…
Shh…Don’t say that to Pats’ fans. They flip out over that. Also make sure not include his record when he was HC in Cleveland. That’s also off limits.
He actually built a very good team in Cleveland, but you had to do it with the draft back then. There was no free agency. Modell screwed him over. If you don’t understand what turning every home game into not only a road game but a hate fest for your team and its effect on competitive advantage, seeing how difficult winning on the road is in the league, especially back then, I don’t know what to tell you. They were 3-1 and had come off of going 11-5 with the best defense in football when the move got leaked out and everyone knew they were about to move. Their season was essentially over after that, and they played accordingly from that point on. Belichick was a lame duck from that point forward, and Cleveland fans just showed up every week to boo their own team.
Brady also went to a team full of superstars that was only good for about two seasons, so there’s that.
Yeah. And won a SB and 2 division titles. That worked out well for him I’d say.
Here’s my question in the same thread. Maybe you missed it? But it’s an honest question.
But my personal favorite is when Pats’ fans say ‘Of course Tom left for TB, they had a better roster!’. Well if Bill is such a great GM, why was his roster clearly below Tampa’s? Never get an answer/reply to that question.
I’m a lifelong Pats fan. Belichick is (imo) the best coach in league history. That being said, he’s an average (at best) GM. I think you’ll find that most Pats fans will agree with me. A lot of us have been calling for him to step down as GM since a few years before Brady left. They’d be a lot better off if someone else bought the groceries, and he just focused on cooking.
Not even close to the best. Jimmy Johnson rebuilt Dallas in 2 years. Joe Gibbs won 3 SB w/ 3 different QB’s. Walsh is all over him as well. Parcells is much better 2 SB’s with 2 different QB’s… And Bill’s nemesis, Don Shula dominates him. And before you say Don had Dan QB’ing don’t forget his time in Baltimore. 73-26-4. Bill is under 500 w/o Tom. Google it.
In today’s time, Andy Reid owns him. You know what make a great coach? Seeing your assistants have success win their own. Bill’s coaching tree is a 3″ long broke twig. Not a single one last more than 3 years. Josh & the Raiders GM will be gone next season, after 2 seasons once again for ‘mastermind’ Josh.
Chuck Noll is also on that list.
Like I said, in MY opinion. You’re welcome to disagree.
The most overrated head coach in football history
Hands down
Stupidest comment in NFL TradeRumors history!!
This feels more or less like a nothing-burger of an article, he’s not going anywhere until he willingly retires.
As the saying goes, they’ll fire you for losing before they fire you for cheating.
Bill Belichick the coach is still fine. He’s one of the best coaches of all time. Bill Belichick the GM, however, is no longer any good. Bad roster moves, bad draft picks, and abominable coaching staff decisions.
Agree. BB knows defense. I’ve heard interviews with D players who went there and said he teaches them details they never knew before. Offense, not so much. He’s too old school to be a QB whisperer which is what today’s league is driven by. BB has been coaching since the 1970s, his father was a HC too. But all of his draft picks are D, year after year, they have no playmakers on offense. They have to pick up FA offensive players, and now they missed out on DHop, they’ll be bad offensively this year again. Mac Jones is suffering there.
@rct – spot on. He’s refurnished some of the old coaches in roles they don’t belong, which has been eye opening and baffling. He had always been good at drafts, but I think he’s gotten to the point where he out Belichick’s Belichick. One of the best there’s been, but retirement can’t be too far away, and that may be best for all involved.
Losing record with Cleveland Browns. 5-11 first season in Foxboro. Scuffling second season pre-Brady. Losing season in 2020, losing home record in 2021, losing season in 2022.
Yet the National Sports Media and many Dumb Sports Fans continue to consider him a god.
BB the GM was never good. He hasn’t resigned 1 first round draft pick to a second contract since 2012. That’s incompetence of Jets’ level.
His genius has always been the later rounds. He always moves back, acquires picks. Their drafts have usually been at the end of the round due to season record or SB victory.
His management of players, eye for talent, and pro bowlers that have come out of his system…not many out there can compare. As much credit as Brady receives for their success, BB should get some for not only drafting him, but keeping him on course for the career. How many players became stars for him after folks thought those players were done?
Not a BB fan, but will give him credit when credit is due.
Bill is so good at late round picks, he let Tom stay in the draft until the 6th round? Huh. That’s a terrible play.
But my personal favorite is when Pats’ fans say ‘Of course Tom left for TB, they had a better roster!’. Well if Bill is such a great GM, why was his roster clearly below Tampa’s? Never get an answer/reply to that question.
Pats fans like to point out that he was drafted by Bill.
…In the sixth round. Like he knew what he had.
…After immediately signing Bledsoe to a large contract. It was a 10 year deal for 100 million.
…And then telling people he thought he was about to be fired after Bledsoe got hurt.
He didn’t know. He got lucky. It just worked out.
Yes, and the Bucks KNEW that Giannis was a superstar when he was drafted as well? Right? Or the Nuggets KNEW that the Joker was a star in the second round but they wanted to save their 1st round pick?
Or Kobe with the Laker trade, they just knew…
Stop. If the Bucks, Nuggets and Lakers get credit so does BB and the Patriots. They DID draft Brady, 31 teams did not…
Earth to CF: The NBA ain’t the NFL!
Does the NFL do draft analysis or do they just pick players out of a hat?
Even CF agrees.
CF agrees so strongly he went out of his way to help prove the main point for us.
The “greatest of all time” got lucky.
Not sure I’d call it luck if he was the one who actually drafted him. Apparently he believed in the talent more so that all the other remaining teams.
Brady like B. Purdy, were drafted as camp arms. Are you going to say that if Purdy has a solid career, that the SF GM & HC really nailed that pick & ignore whiffing on Trey L?
Arty this response is 100.
Respectfully, that makes no sense.
If he thought he was a star to come, he would have picked him higher. We are talking SIXTH round.
He also wouldn’t have been telling people close to him he was about to be fired.
Is it more likely that Bill was so super draft savvy that he saw this when nobody else did? OR that he just was forced to play a sixth rd QB and it worked out?
Based on Bills draft history, and GM history – I know where I land.
You can believe what you want, but to most rational people believing it is not luck is a big stretch.
It also implies that just because a player is drafted, that luck is never involved. It is with all GMs. Good AND bad.
Again nobody else drafted Brady. BB should get credit for at least that.
if not, nobody gets credit for any draft pick that performs better than then the pick you were taken at.
its a foolish argument. So again, Denver gets no credit for drafting the Joker in the 2nd round v. the top pick in the draft.
BTW, all the other 31 teams should be considered absolute failures for NOT picking Brady, by your logic…
All of the franchises are kicking themselves for missing on Brady. Bill didn’t identify a great QB, he had a draft pick to make. That’s it. This is from google:
Players taken in the sixth and seventh-rounds have the toughest time to earn a roster spot. Their odds can fall as low as having a 30-35% chance of making a team. These guys are fighting every day, trying to catch the eye of their coaches
As I said, luck exists for all GMs. Good GMs and bad.
The fact you cant grasp that concept means nothing to the truth.
If doesn’t get lucky on that pick working out, he isn’t in the conversation as a all time great. He is mixed in a bunch of coaching names like Rex Ryan.
It was New England’s QB coach who stood on the table for him. I’m pretty sure the guy died Brady’s rookie year. The people saying he got lucky are wrong though. I remember that there were reports back then that they liked Brady and how quickly he got the ball out of his hand going into his second season. It was kind of like how you would hear about Parcells and Payton liking Romo in Cowboy camp ironically in the same way behind Bledsoe and that they thought he could be a good QB. Kraft had signed Bledsoe to the $100 mil contract before Belichick came back, so benching him because you liked how the second year guy looked in camp though was not going to happen, and anyone saying he should have done it regardless are being disingenuous. The injury saved his job, but he did stick with him when Bledsoe came back, and that was not the popular decision at the time. Lots of Pat fans thought that Bledsoe was still better back then.
I am not debating that BB is the greatest or he got lucky. I just think its BS to not give a team credit for drafting someone when NOBODY else did.
That is my entire point.
Yes, it worked out for 6 superbowls and 9 SB appearances.
Did any other team do that? Nope. SO I guess all you Patriots haters will at least have to admit, BB did draft Brady and your team did not.
I dont even like the Patriots, but i find the hatred of them and New England fans and BB hilarious. Like anyone in NE cares what the rest of the country thinks…LOL.
I grew up there, still not a Pats fan, and I can tell you Pats fans do not care, they care about rings. Just like Celtics fans, Red Sox fans and Bruin fans. They dont care at all… They got 6 with that hack BB, but it was all Brady. He played Safety, kicked field goals and coached the offense..
It’s not that I hate NE, my entire point is Bill is overrated as both a HC & GM. Facts are there. Look at his record w/o Tom. Simple as that.
I’ve asked for 3 years now and will the season.None of you Pat’s lovers will answer my question. It’s like dodge ball to you.
“But my personal favorite is when Pats’ fans say ‘Of course Tom left for TB, they had a better roster!’. Well if Bill is such a great GM, why was his roster clearly below Tampa’s? Never get an answer/reply to that question.
It’s a flawed premise. To win in the NFL, you need a QB. That’s not rocket science. But we’ve seen plenty of good QBs get their careers wasted under bad coaching. He maximized what he had, and yes, he’s the best coach of this era. The only coaches who have won big with different QBs is Joe Gibbs and Andy Reid, and only Gibbs won Super Bowls with them. That doesn’t make them any better coaches though. The big question is that if Kraft doesn’t make him trade Garrapolo, what happens, considering that he went to a Super Bowl and an NFC championship game with an inferior coach. Because that was the plan, and I think Kraft has to look in the mirror as much as he’s blaming Belichick that they left the Brady era with no next step.
You hate to see it. (Sarcasm)
He needs to just start cheating again. Kraft was fine with that.
The All-time wins record is valueless. Shula set it with 11 consecutive seasons of winning no games of importance, and Belichick is now doing the same.
Does the NFL have a way to vacate wins because of cheating?
I dont know ask the Colts
*whispers: He is closer to all time loss record.
Kraft may actually be more medicated than Jerry Jones so I tend to ignore most of what either of them say. Apparently all those massages have softened Robert’s brain along with his body and he believes every season should conclude with a playoff trip and ride to a championship. Someone should remind Kraft how dismal the Patriots early history was. Landing Belichick was the best thing that ever happened to the organization but of course the NFL will always be a “what have you done for us lately?” league.
*Drafting Tom Brady was the best thing that ever happened to the organizaton
To be fair, his teams have won. He got rid of Carroll for one down year. He’s only been owner since 1994.
He’s still a very good coach. It’s just his ego got way out of hand last season when he neglected to hire an OC and handed the job to Matt Patricia.
Nyheim Hines in Buffalo would like a word with you.
What has Buffalo won again?
Hi. Bills fan here.
Just wanted to remind you that pointing out incompetence of another organization is not a defense of the position.
Without Brady he is very average. There is easily a large enough sample size to support that.
His win percentage without Brady is in Rex Ryan territory.
REX. RYAN.
If he is your defensive coordinator – you are in great shape.
If he is your head coach – it is fair to have some level of doubt.
If he is your GM – you need another GM.
You seem to have a lot invested in this article.
I hate Bill.
Where am I wrong though?
Belichick was a bad head coach until Brady saved him. He owes his entire legacy to TB12, aka “The Patriot Way”
Said legacy also includes spying on opponents, running up the score, deflating footballs, and bringing real-life gangstas into the team.
Billie is one of the great coaches though this is another example where coaching and General Mgmt isn’t fluid. His recent early round drafts haven’t produced as expected which leads one to suspect he should give the GM or head coach duties to another.
Wish him luck in overtaking Shula and expect it’ll happen but isn’t necessary for HOF!
A lot of the problem is that Kraft gets involved. The reason they didn’t have a plan after Brady is because Kraft made him trade him to the 49ers, and he went to a Super Bowl and an NFC championship game in the meantime. Brady won a Super Bowl the next year, but 2022 is exactly why he was cutting him loose after 2019 and was planning to roll with Garrapolo. No different from what the 49ers did with Montana in 1991 transitioning to Young. While Montana had a few more good years left, Young was the logical choice to move forward with. If people remember, Montana nearly did the same thing with the Chiefs.
I also think Kraft influenced the pick of Mac Jones because he’s a backup level talent, and I’m sure Belichick had eyes when he was going through scouting to see as much. Now, instead of listening to his HOF coach, he’s trying to triple down on the mistaken pick by bringing back O’Brien to make him comfortable rather than to actually get the best offense to win games. I do think he’ll take it as a challenge and try to win regardless of the cards dealt and scheme around the liability he has at QB.
If Robert “Touch me there” Kraft fires Belichek, that would be the all time worst owner decision of all time. I HATE the Pats, always have. But a coach that brought you that much success, not to mention that much MONEY, deserves to go out on his own accord. It can be debated who the best coach of all time is till we’re all blue in the face, but that many rings (no matter the QB) deserves the respect of all, no matter what. I do believe, regardless of what he admits, that BB wants that all time wins record. And he’ll get it. After that I think he steps aside and watches his son coach in some capacity. But BB is an all time great coach, period.