Bill Belichick is the greatest coach in football history. He has led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships -- and three other appearances -- since 2001.
Belichick has compiled a ridiculous 254-99 (.720) record in New England and won double-digit games in every season from 2003 to 2019.
It's been a rocky road for Belichick and the Patriots since then, however, which coincidentally is when Tom Brady left for New England.
Andrew Fillipponi and Danny Parkins debated if Belichick has lost it on Audacy’s “First & Pod” podcast.
“Has Belichick lost it? Their over/under is the lowest it’s been since I think ‘02 ‘cause there were some questions about their ability to repeat after they won the Super Bowl in ‘01. So either ‘02 or ‘03 is the last time their over/under – their win total is 8.5, Danny,” Fillipponi said (37:36 in player above). “They won double-digit games like 17 years in a row.”
“OK, I think that your question belies a false premise,” Parkins replied. “He doesn’t have a good team. The personnel’s not good. They’re unwatchable. Has he actually forgotten how to coach?”
This set off a rather spirited discussion between the two hosts.
“He picked the team! He’s the GM,” Fillipponi yelled. “He spent 200 million dollars on players last offseason and 90% of them suck.”
“He’s very smug. He’s very arrogant. But I do not believe that he’s lost it,” Parkins replied.”
“He has Matt Patricia coaching the offense, Danny,” Fillipponi exclaimed. “He’s lost it! He’s senile!”
Parkins argued that “if he had a good quarterback he would be great again.”
Belichick and the Patriots selected Mac Jones with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. Jones is the franchise’s first first-round quarterback since Drew Bledsoe in 1993.
Jones won the starting job out of training camp last season and led the Patriots to a respectable 10-7 record – and a playoff berth. He threw for 3,801 yards with 22 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. That earned him a place on the All-Rookie Team and a second-place finish in Offensive Rookie of the Year voting.
But Filliponi continued on.
“He picked this quarterback! He picked in the modern NFL a flabby, man-boobed guy because he relied on Saban, ‘Oh, this guy’s got intangibles out the a—,’ and he trusted his friend, and he’s got a game-manager quarterback who’s Chad Pennington at best,” he said. “That’s what he stuck with, Danny. He picked the guy. He can’t blame anybody but himself.”
“Sure. All of that can be true. It doesn’t mean that Bill Belichick’s lost it,” Parkins said. “It could mean that he’s made a bad series of decisions. You think that if Bill Belichick was the coach of the Bills or the Packers or the Bucs that they’d be worse?”
While Fillipponi admitted that Belichick would be good if he inherited a good team, it doesn’t mean that his presence is a positive.
“Danny, his presence is there’s a guy that kept a pencil in his ear for a laminated playsheet who’s coaching offense when he’s been a defensive coach his entire life!”
“You have just accused the greatest football coach in the history of football of losing it,” Parkins said.
Fillipponi mentioned that other great coaches and managers, including Don Shula, have lost it.
Parkins questioned if it was possible that Belichick just made a bad decision at quarterback, a point that Fillipponi adamantly refuted.
“Kendrick Bourne. Nelson Agholor. Hunter Henry. Jonnu Smith,” he said. “Look at these moves. Look at the guys he drafted.”
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