NEW YORK (PIX11) -- As the New England Patriots made the announcement earlier today that Jerrod Mayo will replace Bill Belichick as head coach, it is a good time to reflect on the last 24 years in Foxboro.
From the nine Super Bowl appearances to the six Super Bowl titles, Spy Gate, Deflate Gate, and 17 AFC East titles. Belichick's run in Foxboro will never be topped and for my money, he is the greatest coach the NFL has ever seen.
Think about this for a second, during his 24-year run in New England, the other 31 NFL teams had a combined 213 head coaches. For Jets fans and New Yorkers, that is tough to hear because he is hated and despised after stepping down as head coach of the New York Jets.
But when you take that emotion away, I think we all recognize brilliance as sports fans, and Belichick was brilliant. Yes, he had great players and the greatest quarterback of all time in Tom Brady, but it is no longer about the dopey debate of who meant more.
Put it this way, you need both a great head coach and a great quarterback to win in the NFL and the Patriots were blessed to have an unmatched duo.
Belichick accomplished all of this during the salary cap world of the NFL and in a league where they want parity, he was the outlier. Belichick is a brilliant football mind, where work ethic was second nature, something he learned from his father.
He is a brilliant game planner and culture changer and can coach each position being played. What impressed me about a Belichick-led team is their ability to adjust to game plans based on opponents and play smart.
They could be two completely different teams in terms of style from week to week. He had a keen understanding of how players can help the team with their skill set and ability and put them in a position to be successful.
As a defensive mind, he made opponents uncomfortable, made you play left-handed, and took away what you like to do. Belichick is done in Foxboro, but he is not done coaching and he will land with another NFL franchise, and he will undoubtedly be successful.
Why? Because he is the best coach the sport of football has ever seen.