New England Patriots - NESN.com
It’s hardly a secret that Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft didn’t end on the best of terms — as evidenced by the ongoing war of words through the media this year between the two.
So, it’s hard to look at Belichick’s take on coaching in college as opposed to the NFL and not think he’s taking at least a little jab at his old boss.
The future Hall of Fame coach is in Year 1 at the University of North Carolina. His stint there has so far been marred by distractions, namely involving his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, all before playing a game.
But things have gotten quieter lately, more along the lines of how you would expect a Belichick operation to run.
With training camp underway, Belichick laid out in an exclusive interview with The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin some of the things he enjoys about college football.
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son, there’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level,” Belichick told Volin. “Generic NFL teams, you have the owner, president, general manager, personnel director, college director, pro director, cap guy, some other consultant, then head coach. I’d say when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and more of a direct vision. And as that expanded, it became harder to be successful.”
All very sound points, especially in a vacuum. But the fact that he led off with discussing ownership, and specifically naming the “owner’s son,” isn’t exactly a subtle way of expressing dissatisfaction with his previous employer.
It has already been reported that Belichick and Patriots president Jonathan Kraft, Robert Kraft’s son, weren’t the most aligned. In fact, things appeared downright acrimonious at the end.
In any event, all parties have moved on (sort of), and the potshots through the press will eventually subside. Clearly, though, that time is not now.
