A historic era of New England Patriots history ended this past week when team owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick decided to mutually part ways.
Belichick spent 24 years leading the Patriots, ultimately winning six Super Bowl championships and cementing his legacy as one of the greatest head coaches in NFL history.
However, his tenure in New England ended on a sour note as the team missed the postseason after a dismal 2023 NFL season.
Midway through the regular season it was apparent that the team was going nowhere and it felt like Belichick’s time was coming to an end.
However, the move that might’ve done him in happened years ago when he decided that it was time for him and the Patriots to move on from Tom Brady.
Kraft revealed that Belichick told him Brady was no longer the same quarterback before he won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers via Seth Wickersham of ESPN.
“Bill had told me he couldn’t play anymore,” Kraft said privately afterward, “and then he goes out and wins the f—ing Super Bowl.”
My latest for @espn, with Wright Thompson and @DVNJr: Inside the Final Days of the Patriot Way https://t.co/3AoDJb9x6Q
— Seth Wickersham (@SethWickersham) January 12, 2024
Brady’s seventh Super Bowl win was an indictment on Belichick as he could’ve tried better to work things out with Brady and perhaps win another title together.
Instead, the head coach finds himself on the open market for the first time in decades where he’ll try to prove to a team he can still lead a roster.
Kraft quickly promoted Jerod Mayo to Patriots head coach, and he will be tasked with the unenviable task of trying to lead New England’s next phase of football.
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