Bill Belichick has already earned a place among the best head coaches in NFL history. A win Sunday and merely appearing in a sixth Super Bowl would elevate him to an even higher rung, one currently occupied by only one other coach.
Only Don Shula has coached a team to six Super Bowl appearances. Belichick is already among a trio of coaches to win three championships, and if he wins again two weeks from now in Arizona he’ll join Chuck Noll to become one of only two coaches with four rings.
We’re living in historic times with Belichick while watching a legend. Yet because there are those who insist on attaching “gate” to everything, a portion of the football-watching public can’t simply enjoy the greatness of both Belichick and his New England Patriots.
Belichick was caught videotaping the defensive signals of opponents early in the 2007 season. It was dumb, though as Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman noted this week, it’s important to recall exactly what the Spygate controversy was about before annually attempting to taint Belichick’s legacy.
The entire league was blanketed with a memo telling coaches to stop videotaping opposing sidelines. The practice was a classic case of groupthink among power-hungry individuals who were looking to gain any possible advantage. Videotaping signals was widespread throughout the league, but Belichick happened to be the coach who was caught.
Or rather, he happened to be the coach who didn’t listen. He continued to videotape even after that memo was sent out. He was stubborn and foolish, and he was punished for it. Both Belichick and the Patriots were fined, and the next spring the team lost its first-round pick.
That was a mistake which reflected an unquenchable thirst for control. Nearly every head coach has that deep-rooted characteristic, but Belichick took it a step too far at the time. Nothing about his conduct that resulted in the Spygate punishment changes what Belichick accomplished previously, and it certainly doesn’t cast any shred of doubt over what he’s done since.
Seven seasons have now passed since the Spygate punishment was handed down. During that time no team has a better regular-season record than the Patriots (84-28-0). That includes an 11-win season when Tom Brady was lost in Week 1 (2008), and now four straight AFC Conference Championship appearances including tomorrow’s game. It also includes six straight AFC East division titles and one of Belichick’s five Super Bowl appearances. If the Patriots win Sunday Belichick will pass Tom Landry for the most playoff victories of all time.
The Patriots have failed to reach double-digit wins in only two of Belichick’s 15 years as head coach. They’ve accomplished that by constantly morphing, with Belichick always tinkering and changing his approach.
For three seasons there was an aerial show in New England led by Randy Moss. Then when Rob Gronkowski was drafted the focus shifted to isolating the middle of the field offensively and overpowering opponents.
The running game has also been effective and in constant carousel mode. A year ago at this time LeGarrette Blount had just completed a two-game stretch in which he ran for 355 yards. And earlier this season Belichick plucked Jonas Gray from the practice squad. He then posted 201 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Week 11.
Belichick has also proven to be highly skilled as a football chess master. During a divisional-round win over the Baltimore Ravens he trotted out only four offensive linemen on multiple plays in the third quarter. That left an ineligible receiver on the field who reported his status to an official, but the Ravens were still left confused.
Belichick found an advantage that was well within the rules and wasn’t any sort of dirty gamesmanship. Later Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said “nobody’s ever seen that before” while expressing his frustration.
He was wrong, of course, because Belichick isn’t the first coach to get creative with offensive line formations (Chip Kelly has pulled a similar stunt in the past). But the strategy is rare, and in this cased timed perfectly so an element of surprise sent the Ravens staggering.
Belichick has always been innovative while adapting. He’s found ways to continue his success as rosters constantly flip over in the salary-cap era. I’ll focus on that while watching one of the greatest football minds in the game’s history Sunday, and maybe again two weeks from now.
If you’d like to instead focus on one misstep many years ago, that’s your loss.
