Bill Belichick parted ways with the Patriots after 24 years following the conclusion of the disastrous 2023-24 season. Many speculated his instant return to coaching given his impressive resume spanning almost five decades and 8 Super Bowls but that didn’t have any bearing on teams with open head coaching vacancies, and as of now he remains unemployed.
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The new Patriots documentary “The Dynasty” has painted Bill as an antihero, with new stories popping up with the release of new episodes. However, a couple of his former players, Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison have come to his rescue and have defended the 8-time Super Bowl-winning coach.
During the new episode of The Stephen A. Smith podcast, Smith feels that Belichick’s legacy has been disrespected but feels the negative perception around him isn’t the reason that the former Patriots coach still hasn’t been approached for the job. The First Take host believes no one can dispute the legacy and the fact that Bill is arguably the greatest coach of all time and he doesn’t have anything to prove.
He is yet to be hired as HC because of his brilliance and accomplishments which doesn’t bode well with the younger generation football minds, who have been hired as General Managers of most NFL clubs. He feels these individuals grew up learning the trade and have waited for this opportunity, and hiring someone like Bill means giving up or sharing the power.
The 3-time NFL Coach of the Year is accustomed to taking on the leadership role having served as both the HC and GM for New England and things will be the same if they hire him as coach or any position in the organization. He is bound to take over and play by his own rules. They are unwilling to take that chance. While all these might not come true in reality, Smith believes that is the perception out there. He said,
“He is out of the Head coaching job because he’s so brilliant and accomplished that there’s a new generation that has come into play. These are younger individuals that have dominion over football operations. They believe he has gotten more football than they know, he’s accustomed to being a boss and because he is accustomed to being a boss, and has no problem being aloof at his pleasure throughout his career, their mentality is it’s not going to be any different if we hand in the reigns now.”
Smith stated that while he gets why franchises with young GMs are unwilling to hire him, he blamed the Dallas Cowboys for letting Bill still be unemployed. Even if he is not advocating the firing of Mike McCarthy for losing a playoff game, he feels Jerry Jones should have parted ways with McCarthy simply because Belichick is on the market, and he is someone who could have brought discipline to the team.
The 8-time Lombardy winning coach gets defended by former players who believe Bill’s mistakes have been magnified while his success has somehow been forgotten.
Stephen A. Smith Defends Bill Belichick
Smith agreed with former Patriots players Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison that The Dynasty has tarnished the legacy of the greatest coaches of all time. Harrison and McCourty felt cheated by the release of the documentary which promised great storytelling. They believe that all the great accomplishments over twenty years have been put on the back burner and only negative stuff has been highlighted.
While they accept that Bill Belichick made mistakes and didn’t always have the best demeanor, they feel everything he did was in the best interest of the team and to help them be the best. He gave opportunities to players who had been rejected by other teams or went undrafted. He brought in players who proved crucial to the Patriot’s success, something for which he never gets the appreciation. They said,
“I felt like I got kind of duped. Everything that we all gave to the 20 years that it encompassed, they only hit anything that was negative. We won at a high level and the guys stayed there. They act like because the last three or four years the Patriots struggled, Bill can’t coach. Bill made some mistakes and wasn’t always the nicest or the purest guy but at the end of the day, he always did whatever he had to make the team better. He gives guys who are underdogs an opportunity. No one talks about that and I don’t think he got enough credit and respect.”
The Patriots’ offense struggled under Bill since the departure of Brady. Despite all the criticism, he still remains one of the best defensive minds in the NFL. However, the 8-time Super Bowl-winning coach came off as rude and over-disciplined, which many feel is an approach that won’t work with the younger players who need a different kind of motivation and guidance. But despite all the prevailing opinions and negative stories about him, he remains the greatest coach of all time.
