Bill Belichick, New England Patriots. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Bill Belichick helped make the New England Patriots the greatest organization in the NFL this century. Too bad he can’t fix these five organizations.
Bill Belichick is a great head coach, but he’s not a miracle worker.
When Belichick arrived in Foxborough to lead the Patriots in 2000, we had no earthly idea he’d become arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history. Belichick inherited a lot of great players from the Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll days, but everything changed once Tom Brady replaced Drew Bledsoe as New England’s starting quarterback.
For 20 years, the Patriots were the greatest dynasty in professional sports. They made the AFC playoffs 17 times in the 21st Century’s first two decades, winning the AFC East each of those times. New England went to nine Super Bowls and won six of those 20 years. Though it’s hard to separate Brady from Belichick, that is now reality, as Brady has moved on in his free agency.
If for whatever reason, Belichick wanted to leave the Patriots organization and coach somewhere else before retiring, surely he’d have ample success with the new gig. However, there are some franchises that either their culture is too broken or ownership is too screwy for even a great coach like Belichick to fix it. He’s a football coach, not a panacea for perpetual and rampant dysfunction.
Here are five teams Belichick would have no chance at succeeding as their next head coach.
5
Las Vegas Raiders
AFC West
For an organization that has the slogans of “Commitment to Excellence” and “Just Win, Baby”, the Raiders haven’t done a ton of that this century. In fact, the Raiders have made the AFC playoffs once since losing Super Bowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the end of the 2002 NFL season. Though they might have turned a corner by moving to Las Vegas, the Raiders are who they are.
Had the Silver and Black remained in Oakland, they would have been much higher on this list. The Raiders played in the worst stadium in the NFL and have the poorest owner in Mark Davis. The rebel franchise of the NFL has always done things its way, for better or worse. Well, it’s been mostly to the Raiders’ detriment the last two decades. Will they ever find themselves?
By going to Las Vegas, the Raiders now play in a cool, new stadium and call a state with no income tax home. In the entertainment capital of the world, the Raiders will certainly be entertaining. This might be the move to finally fix their inherent oddities as a franchise, but it’s been so strange for the last two decades for us to be entirely sure of it. Past behavior predicts future success.
Because Belichick coached the Patriots who beat the Raiders in the infamous “Tuck Rule Game,” do you think for a second the Black Hole will welcome him with open arms?
For a coach who preaches about doing your job, it won’t work for him to theoretically take over a team full of a bunch of loose cannons now in one of the most distracted media markets in the country.