Bill Belichick has quite the résumé with the Patriots, but if Tom Brady wins a Super Bowl with another team, it could tarnish what Belichick has accomplished.
Before Tom Brady and the New England Patriots officially parted ways, the hot debate was if the Patriots’ success was due to the play of Brady at quarterback or the coaching of Bill Belichick? The two won six Super Bowls together and went to nine total.
In most cases, the quarterback is credited with the success of a team, but Patriots fans saw their team perform well even when Brady wasn’t at his best, or not even in the game. When he missed the entirety of the 2008 season, the Patriots went 11-5 (they missed the playoffs, but still won double-digit games, which is pretty good considering Matt Cassel was their quarterback).
Belichick has proven that he’s one of the best NFL head coaches of all-time, but if Brady goes on to win a Super Bowl as a member of the Buccaneers, will that hotly debated topic finally be answered? Will the answer firmly be Brady?
If so, Belichick is going to have to prove that he can win at the highest level without Brady. He didn’t have the success he’s had in New England prior to coming to the Patriots, as he didn’t fare well in Cleveland and this past season was the Patriots’ first losing season since 2000 (Brady’s rookie year).
Bill Belichick needs to prove that he can win without Tom Brady if he doesn’t want his legacy to take a hit.
At the end of the day, Belichick has six Super Bowls on his resumé and no one can take those away from him. At the same time though, the talking heads are definitely going to say the success of the Patriots was due to Brady and not Belichick.
The Patriots didn’t surround Brady with talent and that’s part of why he wanted to play elsewhere. He has all kinds of talent in Tampa Bay and that’s why the Buccaneers are going to be in the Super Bowl next weekend. Brady isn’t the highlight of the Bucs like he was in New England.
Belichick is a very good coach and he’ll always be respected around the league, but when it comes to the Patriots’ dynasty that spanned over two seasons, if he can’t win at the next level without Brady then we might have our answer as to who was responsible for the six titles.