Most people believe Bill Belichick is the greatest coach of all time. Former Patriot Asante Samuel, however, is not one of them.
In a recent interview with CBS Sports, Samuel, who played five years with Belichick in New England and won two Super Bowls with the legendary coach, was asked if he thought Belichick was the best coach in NFL history.
“Absolutely not,” Samuel shot back.
Then Samuel gave his reasoning.
“Well, look at his record without Tom. You got to win without Tom,” Samuel explained. “One thing I learned about being great — you gotta be great in different situations. It was all Tom. I was there. I saw it. It was Tom. Everybody know it. Tom know it. But he ain’t gonna admit it. Because he want to be politically correct. That’s why I’m here. And I’mma tell the truth.
“I’ve been there. I seen it. I confronted him. And we’ve been through it. And that’s how I do.”
New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel returns an interception for a touchdown in an NFL wild-card playoff game on Jan. 7, 2007, in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Patriots defeated the Jets 33-16. (Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images)
Samuel is not alone in this thought, but some things need to be said.
First, Belichick has two Super Bowl rings from his time with the Giants, and those teams were absolutely led by their defense. So, in fairness, Belichick does have Super Bowl rings without Tom Brady.
But let’s deal with the Brady question. Tom Brady was always going to win the divorce between him and the Patriots because he was taking himself away from the Patriots. He is the greatest QB of all time, and he was taking himself away from Belichick, who would have to start all over with a new QB.
New England Patriots QB Tom Brady (12) victorious, with head coach Bill Belichick after winning game vs Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City, MO 1/20/2019 CREDIT: David E. Klutho (David E. Klutho /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
So, to disqualify Belichick’s previous 20 years with Brady because he hasn’t won in three years rebuilding without Brady is not really fair. Especially considering Brady had the luxury of taking his best receiver from his time in New England (Gronkowski) and going to a team in Tampa that was absolutely loaded on both sides of the ball.
Would Brady have won without Belichick? Yes, he did in 2020. Would he have won for 20 years without the culture that Belichick created in New England? We’ll never know, but I doubt it.
Tom Brady was the most integral part of the Patriots dynasty. There’s no question. But Belichick was pretty damn important to Tom Brady’s success too.