Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Bill Belichick Part Ways After 24 Seasons: Reactions, What’s Next?

Starting point is 00:00:00 For the first time in nearly a quarter of a century, Bill Belichick will not be on the New England Patriots sidelines to begin an NFL season. Stick around for this special edition episode. You're about to be locked in to the Locked On Patriots podcast. You are Locked On Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all of you, Foxborough faithful, and thank you once again for making Lockdown Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Whether you're an everydayer, a casual listener, or a first-timer, welcome to the pod and thank you for joining me here today.

Starting point is 00:00:56 I'm your host, Mike DeBate, and I cover your New England Patriots for Patriots Country of Sports Illustrated. Reach out to me, let me know what's on your mind on X at M-D-A-V-A-T-E-N-F-L. While you're out there showing some love to Locked On Patriots social media style, please follow our account there as well at L-O underscore Patriots. And today, folks, is a bittersweet day in Patriots Nation. It's also crossover Thursday across the Locked On Podcast Network. Your New England Patriots may be out of the playoff picture, but it is still brought to you by our good friends over at PrizePix.

Starting point is 00:01:29 The easiest and most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Go to prizepix.com slash LockdownNFL. And use the code all lowercase LockdownNFL for a first deposit match up to $100. And folks, it is the end of an era in New England. The news we all expected, some wanted to hear, some didn't want to hear, finally came down very early, about 7 a.m. Eastern this morning. Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots will indeed be parting ways. Now, we already had several major coaching dominoes fall in the last 24 to 48 hours. Mike Vrabel out in Nashville, Pete Carroll out in the Emerald City of Seattle,

Starting point is 00:02:10 even Nick Saban rocking the college world out in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. But the New England Patriots did indeed make their decision on the future of the organization. And a press conference today scheduled noontime. Bill Belichick, Robert Kraft, both will be in attendance, and it's going to detail the end of, I think, the most remarkable run in professional sports, at least in the last 50 years. Remarkable what Bill Belichick was able to do

Starting point is 00:02:37 as head coach of the New England Patriots. Six Super Bowl titles over 24 years, nine conference championships. You're never going to see a run like that again, folks. And unfortunately, it will come to an end. But to say that it's recently been less than the best of times in New England probably would be an understatement. If you're wondering how we got here, a 4-13 finish to the 2023 NFL season was definitely not the way Bill Belichick wanted to go out. When you finish

Starting point is 00:03:05 outside of the playoff window three out of the last four years and not having won a playoff game since before the Tom Brady era ended, yeah, your job is going to come under some scrutiny. And it did come under scrutiny, not just by the crafts, but also by the fan base, definitely by the media, some of which were openly clamoring for Bill Belichick to be fired. This sounds like a mutual parting of ways, so you're not going to see Bill Belichick packing his bags and carrying a box out of Gillette Stadium anytime soon. I think this was a mutual decision, a delicate decision, and we'll see this afternoon when this press conference takes place exactly how both sides are going to handle it but despite

Starting point is 00:03:45 all of the difficulties that you had this season and there have been several we mentioned the 4 and 13 finish we mentioned missing the playoffs for the third time in the last four seasons we also mentioned the fact that Bill Belichick and the Patriots finished last in the division for the first time since 2000 his first season here in New England. But it's not so easy simply to cut ties with a living legend, really, and also the principal architect of what I formerly said was the greatest sports dynasty in decades. Not as simple as people would have you believe. Belichick has been one of the most successful at his position over the last 24 seasons here in New England. Few, if any, will ever enjoy that type of success again in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:04:33 And I feel very confident in saying that. I don't believe you will see that type of success again. Six Super Bowl championships, three AP Coach of the Year awards, nine nine conference titles those are just some of the accolades that he collected on the sidelines in new england and again we heard all the reports throughout the nfl throughout the season that bill belichick and robert craft had had a disconnect that there was an icy relationship that the decision had been made the moment the patriots lost in frankfurt germany to the indapolis Colts. All the arrows seem to be pointing in the direction of this split that we are experiencing today. However, there was a glimmer of hope for some Patriots fans that wanted to see Bill Belichick remain in New England even as

Starting point is 00:05:15 recently as just a couple of days ago. When Bill addressed the media on Monday morning after Sunday's 17-3 loss, he said, and I quote, I'm open for whatever is going to be collectively decided to be best for the football team. Ultimately, it appears that collectively, both he and Kraft feel that it's in their best interest to go their separate ways. But a lot of reports were detailing that as a distinct possibility that Bill could come back, especially when you started to hear some of the other reports trickle out that scott pioli was someone that they were talking about maybe about coming in taking over some of the gm duties for new england josh mcdaniel's potentially coming back to have a strong role in an offense that struggled mightily in 2023 all the pieces started to be in place for

Starting point is 00:06:01 maybe another run but firing of mike grarabel a couple of days ago definitely threw a wrench into those plans and the Patriots commitment to Gerard Mayo seems to be stronger than ever I'm going to get into what's next for the Patriots in just a moment but ultimately the big story here is that for the first time in nearly a quarter century the Patriots are going to be on the lookout for a new head coach and I don't think they're going to be in that market that long like I said Vrabel and Mayo right now seem to be the front runners some news outlets reporting that Mayo is the front runner others are saying it's not so clear cut but I really would be surprised if it was anybody else but especially considering the fact that

Starting point is 00:06:41 Robert Kraft reportedly referred to Mike Vrabel as his home run hire. Yeah, things are about to get really interesting here in New England, folks. And Kraft is due up at the plate very soon. And we're going to see if he's got that home run swing left in him. But ultimately, today is going to be about a lot of reflection. A lot of you have some strong feelings about Bill Belichick, all the success, all of the Super Bowl championships, but on to Cincinnati press conferences that you all found very amusing. And I got news for you. A lot of people in the media found them amusing too.

Starting point is 00:07:14 It was frustrating at times, but bottom line, Bill Belichick always knew that his bread and butter was on the gridiron. And anytime you heard him speak about the gridiron, he glowed in a way that you very seldom see anyone glow about their profession. Bill Belichick loves the game of football. For that reason, I fully expect him to be coaching in 2024. It won't be in New England. Where's it going to be?

Starting point is 00:07:39 We're going to be covering all of that this week, folks. This is a story that will have multiple, multiple layers. And don't worry, we are going to cover them all here on Locked On Patriots from every possible angle. So thank you all, especially you everydayers. But all of you joining us here for either a casual listen or the first time, stick with us. The best is yet to come when it comes to coverage of Bill Belichick

Starting point is 00:08:02 and the New England Patriots parting ways after 24 magical seasons. Okay, mostly magical, folks, in Foxborough. But for someone like me who started off as a stark-raving Patriots fan and then had the great opportunity and the great blessing to be able to cover the team I grew up idolizing as a child, today is definitely a bittersweet day for me. In just a moment, I'm going to let you know about the Bill Belichick that I'm going to miss most and why I think the New England Patriots are going to miss him just as much as I do.

Starting point is 00:08:33 We're going to talk about that and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast continues, a proud part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's show is sponsored by BetterHelp. And folks, the new year is a time of new beginnings. And with the start of a new year comes a lot of those new year, new you resolutions. But what are some of the things you want to keep the same about yourself or your life in 2024? Around New Year's, we all get obsessed with how to change ourselves instead of just expanding on what we're already doing right. Maybe you finally organized one part of your living space and you want to tackle another, or maybe you're taking supplements every morning, but you want to actually start eating breakfast too. Therapy helps you find

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Starting point is 00:10:10 LockedOn listeners, thank you so much for joining us here today on LockedOn Patriots, a special edition of LockedOn covering the departure of Bill Belichick and the parting of the ways as it's being described in Foxborough with Robert Kraft and the organization for which Bill has presided over 24 years. It really is amazing to think about it. It sounds surreal to even talk about the fact that Bill Belichick will no longer be the coach of the New England Patriots at day's end. There is a press conference that is scheduled for 12 noon. We're going to be bringing you a special reaction show to that on Thursday afternoon, so please be sure to stay locked into Locked On Patriots all day long for the very latest from Foxborough. But as I said in the previous segment, today is definitely a bittersweet day for all of us.

Starting point is 00:10:54 A lot of you have strong feelings one way or another on Bill Belichick. For the most part, in the interactions that I've had with all of you Patriots fans out there, including all of you amazing locked on listeners. Most of you will agree that the job that Bill Belichick did here for 24 years was as good, if not better, as anyone who has ever taken a bench on a sideline in NFL history. Bill Belichick was masterful at what he did, and he was truly the greatest coach that the New England Patriots could have hoped for when they hired him in 2000. His partnership with Tom Brady and Tom's ability on the field were the perfect marriage for this dynasty to prove what it proved. And you have to give an awful lot of credit to Robert Kraft in the front office for having the vision to get these two goats.

Starting point is 00:11:40 And that's exactly what they are. The two greatest of all time together in one area. And you saw the results, folks, results that, like I keep saying, I don't believe will ever be seen again in professional sports. And it got me thinking an awful lot this morning as I'm preparing to record and share my thoughts with you or preparing to write an article or cover a press conference. I started to hear the lyrics from Closing Time in my head, and I don't want to get that stuck in your head. So just know that quote was taken from a Roman philosopher named Seneca, and you know what I'm going to talk about. Every new beginning comes from some other

Starting point is 00:12:15 beginning's end. And those words, again, pointed ringing throughout the NFL universe, not just in New England, but you can hear them in Seattle. You can hear them in Tennessee. You can definitely hear them in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Now that Nick Saban is riding off into retirement, there is a parting of ways that is going on from the old guard to the new guard. And some of you may argue it's the best thing for the game. Some like me are still a little hesitant to let that go, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and see what the Patriots plan is before I'm either going to criticize it, tell you it's not going to work, or endorse it and give it my full support. There's a lot of dominoes that need to fall in order for people to see what's going to work next for New England. What I can tell you is I

Starting point is 00:12:59 am deeply going to miss Bill Belichick, not just as a Patriots fan, not just as a media member, but I'm going to miss him for everything that he taught me about the game of football. Bill Belichick and I do not have a personal relationship. I've asked him questions during press conferences, but at the same time, just watching, just observing, seeing him on the field, hearing what he has to say in press conferences, helped teach me things about the game that I did not know. And that to me is where Bill Belichick's genius truly lies. It's not in the rings. It's not in the accolades. It's not in the personality that he's developed or the cult-like following he has among some members of the fan base. It really is about the game of football. That's how Bill Belichick should be remembered and revered for his time here in New England. A lot of depictions of him recently have him either as

Starting point is 00:13:50 a surly old coach that didn't want to change, dug his heels in, made bad draft choices, made bad personal choices, and essentially hurt himself on the field by the product he put on it. I think that's a gross misrepresentation of what Bill Belichick truly was. What I think is his greatest mystique is the ability that he had to reach his players and to really be able to understand the game and teach it to them in a way that they had never been taught before. You've heard Bill Belichick praised as a defensive genius. You've heard him mocked as a diabolical manipulator. I always subscribe to the theory of Aristotle, folks. He's kind of somewhere in the middle of that, and I mean that

Starting point is 00:14:30 with reverence. And I hope Bill might be the first person to agree with that, but again, I'm not going to speak for Bill Belichick. The one thing that I think he would absolutely wholeheartedly agree with is the fact that he has never ceased to be what I like to call a student of the game. Bill Belichick loves examining game film and breaking down plays. I know those of you out there that don't like Bill are going to start bringing up Spygate when it comes to watching film. Folks, those of us with more than three brain cells know exactly what Spygate really was, so don't put too much stock into those types of comments bottom line bill belichick's ability to break down nuances of plays and break down the significance of players is something again you

Starting point is 00:15:11 will never see again in the nfl he had such a deep love for telling you the history of the long snapper for example a couple of years ago when we were all on a zoom conference and all the members of the beat were absolutely in awe watching bill belichick talk about how much he loved the game of football. Just recently, when the Patriots hosted the Army-Navy game, the joy and the energy and the excitement he had when describing his father's days at Navy and going and growing up in football and learning the different intricacies of the game is truly remarkable. Bill Belichick absolutely loves the game of football and he shows it every single time. He's also a master of football reconnaissance and this is one thing that I can share and I've covered the team now since 2019, Tom's last year with the Patriots, and in speaking with several coaches on the staff and speaking with several opposing coaches during

Starting point is 00:16:03 that time, everybody always liked to describe what Bill Belichick did when he spoke to them regarding football as football reconnaissance. They also called it benign brain picking, which I actually think is a little funnier and I think a little bit more accurate. Look, he has a curiosity about football. There's no question about it. He'll pick someone's mind on the opinion of a draft pick, or he'll seek an outside opinion on the opinion of a draft pick, or he'll seek an outside opinion on the interpretation of a rule. Bill Belichick is always trying to find every angle of every situation so he's prepared for every outcome.

Starting point is 00:16:34 He's not perfect. There have been times where he's been eclipsed by another coach's decision, but very few times. And that's something that, to me me describes Bill Belichick perfectly. You were not going to get one up on Bill Belichick unless you outworked him to the nth degree. And very few people can say that they've ever done that. But all of this game preparation, all of this film watching and breaking down the importance of players and the importance of plays and doing some football recon and benignly picking the brain of not only his colleagues, but also

Starting point is 00:17:05 his opponents, really paled in comparison to what you saw Bill Belichick do on the field. We've seen images of him getting down in the three-point stance, snapping the ball to Matt Jones or Bailey Zappi, getting in there and showing the nuances of the game to his players. This is why his players loved playing for him, and they still will next year when Bill Belichick is in a new location. He will always give credit to his players, he'll always protect them, and he'll always put them in the best possible place to succeed. Sometimes there have been conflicts between Belichick and his players because of general manager, personnel-type moves. It's not easy when you wear both hats, folks. Belichick did it up

Starting point is 00:17:45 here for 24 years and for the most part has a pretty good record of players revering him as the best football mind and certainly the best coach that they've ever played for. But there are things that can cause difficulties in those relationships. Very seldom do you ever hear a player, and correct me if I'm wrong in the the comments but I don't think I've ever heard one player that's played for Bill Belichick that will say he doesn't know his football on the field they have a problem with him personally maybe something that happened to sour their relationship but not on the field this is a guy that knows how to impart his concepts with monotonous repetition and that may sound sound bad, but believe me, for a pro football player, that's a good thing. I can watch him drill his players over and over again, get out there and actually do drills with them. Basic hand techniques, foot placement, showing them how to throw a block,

Starting point is 00:18:36 giving them different pointers about where they need to be positioned on a football field and how to do it. Bill Belichick did this as well as anyone. And I'm not saying that a new coach is not going to come in here and do it, but there are very few, if any, that will ever do it with the gusto, the enthusiasm, and the precision that Bill Belichick did it. To me, that is where I'm going to miss him the most. I think that's where the Patriots are going to miss him the most. And I think that's what makes him almost irreplaceable. And again, all the glowing things that I'm saying about Bill may have you wonder, well, if he's so great, why did the Patriots move on from him? Well, sometimes relationships have just run their course. I really think that's what happened here.

Starting point is 00:19:13 You'll hear the argument an awful lot that Bill Belichick let the game pass him by. I don't necessarily believe that. Bill Belichick is someone that has always been willing to adapt to the new style. I don't think it's the concepts that betrayed Bill Belichick or his unwillingness to change his vision of what football should be in the modern era. I think it may have been more personnel related. And we're going to get to that later this week, folks, because for every success that Bill Belichick had in imparting his wisdom on the field as an X's and O's coach, there have been some misses in the GM room.

Starting point is 00:19:43 I wouldn't be doing my job unless I pointed that out, and I wouldn't be credible unless I acknowledged it. So stay tuned, folks, because later this week, we are going to talk about Bill the GM and exactly what happened here with the Patriots to make this relationship irreparable. A lot of you are wondering what's next. Again, a lot of in-depth discussion on the next steps for the New England Patriots will be had as we move into the next phase. We're going to wrap things up here by talking about some of the steps that may have led

Starting point is 00:20:10 up to this decision by the crafts and who the Patriots might be keeping their sharp eye on in the coming days and weeks. We will discuss all that and more when this episode of the Locked On Patriots podcast wraps up right here on the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Locked On listeners, today especially, we come to sports for some sort of escape

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Starting point is 00:20:43 of antibiotics like amoxicillin right in the middle of the worst flu season in over a decade. Folks, this is scary. I can't imagine a more helpless feeling than if a family member of mine got sick while a supply chain issue kept them from getting the life-saving medication they needed. Thankfully, we'll be okay because of Jace Medical. The Jace case is a pack of five different antibiotics to treat a long list of bacterial illnesses, including UTIs, respiratory infections, sinusitis, skin infections, among others. This stuff could happen to any one of us. So visit jacemedical.com and complete your physician encounter.

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Starting point is 00:21:58 what's next for the New England Patriots beyond this move. And I'm sure all of you continue to have mixed emotions regarding the departure of Bill Belichick and what's going to happen in the future. Folks, there's a lot to digest. There's a lot to try to understand, and there's a lot still yet to be learned here. However, one thing that I think we can all agree on is that the New England Patriots face a difficult task in replacing a legend. It's very tough to do it. Whether it be a legendary quarterback like Tom Brady or now a legendary coach like Bill Belichick, it's never easy to step into those shoes. As we said today to open the show, reports out there indicate that the Patriots have zeroed in on either Gerard Maia or possibly Mike Grable. Those names, I believe, will continue to remain

Starting point is 00:22:41 at the top of the list, but neither of these candidates seem to have the type of resume that Bill Belichick would have. I know folks, very few, if any, actually do, but at the same time, people might be wondering, well, if Bill Belichick's defensive mind was so strong, why are they going to replace him with another defensive-minded head coach? Now, in the previous segment, I talked about Bill Belichick's prowess on the football field. I do not think his ability to coach a game is what led to his eventual exit from New England. I think it had more to do with the personnel he put out there on the field, maybe even to his detriment. Does Bill Belichick deserve some blame for that? Absolutely. And in my opinion, that's

Starting point is 00:23:19 where some of the bloom came off the proverbial rose here. Ultimately, it may have been what made this relationship unsalvageable. Look, Belichick's recent history of high-value draft selections hasn't exactly been palatable to all of us out there in New England. A lot of it has caused indigestion among the fan base without being too blunt about it. But when you see players like Lamar Jackson with Baltimore, Deebo Samuel with the San Francisco 49ers, A.J. Brown with the Philadelphia Eagles, formerly with the Tennessee Titans. Those guys are thriving while selections like Matt Jones, Tyquan Thornton, not exactly lighting up the Foxborough skies the way we had hoped.

Starting point is 00:23:58 Things are going to get difficult and they're going to get hard when it comes to media scrutiny, when it comes to fan scrutiny, and ultimately when it comes to your job evaluation by your bosses. And folks, ultimately, we'll see if Robert Kraft, Jonathan Kraft, and the Patriots Brain Trust made the right decision by moving on from Bill Belichick, the voice, Bill Belichick, the GM, but not necessarily Bill Belichick, the influence. Were they just simply better with what they had? Or is this the right move? Those are the discussions that we're going to have here on Locked On Patriots all throughout the week and into next week.

Starting point is 00:24:32 So I encourage you to stay locked into the Locked On Patriots podcast. Don't forget to download, subscribe, and follow wherever you get your podcasts. In the meantime, I continue to thank you all for staying locked into Locked On Patriots and making Locked On Patriots a daily part of your New England Patriots coverage. Once again, I'm your host, Mike DeBate. And on a personal note, folks, I've covered the New England Patriots since 2019. Both here as a host on Locked On Patriots and also in my time covering the Pats for full press coverage and, of course, for Sports Illustrated.

Starting point is 00:25:03 I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to cover, in my opinion, the greatest coach in NFL history. Bill Belichick didn't always make it easy, but he made it interesting. There was always a nuance that you could count on learning. There was always a catchphrase you could count on being something you could tweet out or make an article about. But one thing you could always know and hang your hat on is that Bill Belichick always had the best interest of his football team at heart. It worked a lot more than it didn't work. His track record is a lot better than you've been led to believe these past few weeks. The Patriots will miss that and it's a bittersweet day. This organization will rise again and they will be okay. The coach coming

Starting point is 00:25:42 in has big shoes to fill but Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft are smart businessmen and they will be okay. The coach coming in has big shoes to fill, but Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft are smart businessmen, and they're not going to bring someone in that's not capable of handling the job. That being said, it definitely is the end of an era and a new beginning here in Foxborough. I will miss covering Bill Belichick. I wish him nothing but the best in his personal and professional life, which I know will continue beyond this season. It's very rare that you get an opportunity to cover not only the greatest player, but the greatest coach in the last 50 years in the NFL. I've had that privilege. I consider myself blessed for that. Thank you, Robert, for putting this together. Thank you, Tom, for making it possible. Thank you, Bill Belichick,

Starting point is 00:26:20 for giving it the guidance it needed to succeed. And folks, on that note, we will definitely see you back here later on Thursday, back again on Friday, and all throughout the week, covering the very latest of Bill Belichick's song here in New England and what's to come in the coming days and weeks. Have a great day, everyone. Stay safe, stay well,

Starting point is 00:26:40 and be the change you wish to see in the world. I'm Mike DeBate, and we'll see you back here again soon on Lunt on Patriots.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - New England Patriots, Bill Belichick Part Ways After 24 Seasons: Reactions, What’s Next?

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