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Before we go any further here, let’s give Bill Belichick some credit. That’s something he apparently doesn’t want too much of, but when it comes to the best NFL head coaches of all-time, there’s a case to be made that Belichick is the best.
He, of course, had a ton of help from his soon-to-be Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, and while both are off to new adventures — Brady has become a prime-time color commentator for FOX and minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders while Belichick is now strangely the head coach at North Carolina (the college) — their time together was truly special.
Belichick and Brady won six Super Bowls together with the New England Patriots. That included Super Bowl wins in 2001 — Brady’s first season as the starter in New England after he took over for Drew Bledsoe — 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018. Oh. that’s not to mention the Super Bowls the pair made but didn’t win (it happens, apparently). That includes Super Bowl appearances in 2007, 2011 and 2017.
If it wasn’t for that pesky Eli Manning and the New York Giants as well as a backup quarterback turned Super Bowl MVP in Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles, we’d be talking about nine Super Bowl wins between Belichick and Brady. Oh, and there’s those two Belichick won early on in his NFL career as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. Speaking of extra rings, we haven’t even mentioned the one Brady went on to win for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in his first season as their quarterback in 2020.
Yes, they’re legends of the game, without a doubt, and both Belichick and Brady know a thing or two about the Super Bowl. With that said, it is interesting to hear that Belichick doesn’t put too much of the credit on himself, though. He recently joined the Let’s Go Podcast and got into a discussion with co-host Jim Gray about some of his legendary teams with the Patriots.
As Belichick sees it, it’s all about the players. Sure, he coaches them up and technically puts together the game plan and pulls strings in-games, but if you don’t have great players, you can’t have great execution.
“Players win games. You can’t win games without good players. I don’t care who the coach is, it’s impossible. You can’t win without good players,” Belichick said on the podcast, as transcribed by ESPN. ” You know, I found that out when I had [Lawrence] Taylor and [Carl] Banks and Harry Carson, Pepper Johnson, Jim Burt, Everson Walls, all those guys at the Giants. And same thing when we got good at Cleveland and then at New England.”
I mean, it’s [Tom] Brady, it’s [Willie] McGinest, it’s [Mike] Vrabel, it’s [Tedy] Bruschi, it’s Corey Dillon, it’s Randy Moss, Troy Brown, Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, Rodney Harrison,” Belichick continued. “Those are guys that won the games, man. I didn’t make any tackles. I didn’t make...
