Why Patriots Coaches Fail Outside of New England: Bill Belichick's Complicated Coaching Tree

for decades the nfl has lived in the shadow of the league's evil empire the regime led by bill belichick in new england grew so dominant and so all-powerful that for a while many across the galaxy lost hope that they would ever release their grip eli manning six super bowl rings 17 division titles a .721 postseason winning percentage give whatever excuse you can come up with to deny its legitimacy but it's a run that will never be forgotten a well-oiled war machine that steamrolled countless nfl greats over the years so with that kind of unprecedented command of the sport one can only assume that the apprentices that have surrounded emperor belichick over the years possess football knowledge that few could ever hope to attain but try as owners all around the nfl might their attempts to match the undeniable strength of the empire have not gone well while there's no doubt the patriots have had some geniuses on their staff the combined record of pat's assistants that have gone on to be head coaches elsewhere is 212 298 and won as of this video so what gives with how many vast coaching trees branch across the nfl why does the greatest coach in the game's history have zero noteworthy apprentices that have been able to successfully uphold the gospel that is the patriot way well today that's what i want to talk about since no matter how simple that answer may seem teams will be willing to take shots on belichick's disciples until he leaves football entirely which you know maybe never but before we get into the mystery of belichick's coaching tree i'd like to thank today's sponsor over at edge sports for helping to make this video happen edge sports is an analytics service and the creator of the nfl's first simulation model using historical and team by team data to simulate games 400 000 times better predicting outcomes as a result there's obviously no such thing as a crystal ball when it comes to pro football but the accuracy of edge's services have been used by real nfl teams and helped to bring along the league's current analytics revolution now those tools that have directly contributed to winning super bowls are available to you providing the best models in the business in projecting spreads game totals and the myriad other metrics that determine a game's outcome so to get started click the link in the description and they'll hook you up with a free 14-day trial to test out their services and then from there you can also use my code ste 50 for 50 off both their nfl package and their all sports package if any of these products sound like something that interests you like at all this is a perfect way to jump in so again a huge thank you to edge sports for sponsoring this video and now let's talk trees i don't think i'm breaking new ground here and telling you that being an nfl head coach is an insanely difficult job over a hundred staff and players looking your direction for leadership and thousands of fans calling for you to be axed when you screw up so it's no wonder that those few who do excel by no means do it alone every great coach is forged by their influences along the way nfl greats like bill walsh marty schottenheimer and mike holmgren all have far-reaching coaching trees that are rooted in the league across generations even long after they have hung up their headset for instance current indianapolis colts head coach frank reich first burst onto the nfl scene as the offensive coordinator for the super bowl champion eagles in 2018 where he worked under doug peterson who in turn made his name as an offensive coordinator years earlier under andy reid who in turn made his name years earlier as a coach under mike holmgren so reich who was on the buffalo bills roster as a quarterback when reed began his nfl coaching career is now a head coach in the same conference as him and so the carousel moves on and on in fact for evidence of how impactful great mentorship is for nfl coaches you don't need to look any further than bill belichick himself who is a product of the impressive tree of coach bill parcells under whom he worked for many years with the new york giants winning two super bowls as his defensive coordinator so when it comes to developing head coaches the philosophy seems simple enough on the surface winning breeds winners and proximity breeds expertise so where better than to siphon up-and-coming coaches than from the inner circle of one of the winningest coaches in nfl history well as history shows just about anywhere else no matter the track record accolades or perceived genius of one of belichick's assistants there always seems to be a tragic flaw that shatters any hope of transferring his winning culture to another organization so among the many gravestones of fallen belichick disciples across the nfl i like to point out the two fundamental areas where coaches fail in mimicking the role belichick takes with the patriots of course the reason for a coach failing is in no way a black and white issue different failings compound with one another until the foundation of support crumbles away entirely and of course in the case of these expatriates attempting to turn teams around there's a lot of rubble to dig through the culture bill belichick operates in new england is just as much myth as it is anything concrete the term the patriot way has grown increasingly popular in describing the authoritarian structure belichick runs his team with centered on driving principles like accountability discipline preparation and executing when the moment calls do what it takes to win with no questions asked that's it and that simplicity is what makes it so infuriating to try and unpack as it depends on an inherent trust that the guy at the top knows what he's doing so with that said enter matt patricia accomplished defensive coordinator with the patriots winning two super bowls on that staff shades of bill belichick maybe well patricia certainly seemed to think so undertaking a full rebuild of the lions culture after taking over in 2018 a team that had made the playoffs under jim caldwell two of the past four seasons but patricia was brought in to do things his way the patriot way according to a recent bleacher report article that meant lots of carryovers from new england like intense conditioning after every practice expletive laden call outs from patricia in team meetings and crackdowns on every element of a player's routine from jewelry to jersey swaps to even banning pre-game music in the locker room early on and while these tactics may have been ones that patricia saw as necessary for shifting the focus of a historically lost team to veterans and new players alike that constant belligerence and contempt patricia expressed only alienated them from their coach instead of building a culture where players are coached to be their best it felt like suffering for the sake of suffering the lions went 13 29 and 1 in his two and a half season tenure and at the end of it the organization was left wondering why the hell they handed over the keys to a dictator that brought nothing but internal strife in the end um well you know do me a favor just kind of sit up and just like have a little respect for the process every day you come in and ask me questions and you just kind of like you know give me this but i mean like just be a little respectful just i'm asking just to be a little respectful in this whole process okay so ask me a question professionally and i'll answer it for you and that's exactly where the problem lies for those that adopt belichick's sharp edge style if you don't have a group of players that completely buy into what you're building it will never be built period it's an intangible leadership quality a coach needs to possess regardless of what system they're operating but the fact is you need to bring that tenfold to have a culture that imitates belichicks patriots assistants like patricia josh mcdaniels and eric mangini have walked into a new situation expecting the routines and idiosyncrasies of new england to be adopted with open arms by a group that is just entirely unfamiliar with that style of coaching and while it's accepted by new patriots players because bill belichick's reputation precedes him i'm sorry but who the hell are you an oft overlooked part of bill belichick's track record is the fact that he hasn't just been the head coach of a team that won six super bowls but he's also acted as their general manager every step of the way that fact is insane those two roles represent entirely different sides of football and assuming both of them is an absurd amount of responsibility for one individual but belichick's extensive role in the pat's front office tied in perfectly to his role as coach over the years which focused heavily on maximizing every aspect of the patriots and its players in order to build a true team first approach no player is bigger than the rest of the team and as a result no player gets paid like it even the greatest quarterback of all time was famous for taking pay cuts in the name of winning a precedent that was invaluable in all other negotiations so if you wanted to play for a championship team that opportunity was an unspoken benefit included in your contract that simple fact has given belichick leverage that is basically unseen around the rest of the league it's no secret that nfl stars want to be paid a lot and multiple times belichick has been willing to wave goodbye to players whose contract demands exceeded what he's willing to offer trading players like jaime collins and chandler jones rather than inking those players in their prime to mega deals it's a negotiating style built on confidence devoid of emotion but while that might work for one bill not every bill is created equal bill o'brien's tenure with the houston texans was a true test of resolve for fans with the team at a respectable place in every season's conversation but unable to take the next step needed to truly contend even still as far as head coaches go his career record of 54 and 52 with the texans stands out as one of the better marks to come out of the belichick tree that's not really a compliment when you look at the rest of the branches but discussing o'brien's on-field achievements is certainly preferable to looking at his role in some of the team's front office decisions specifically in the last few years of his time in houston for a great summary of how bob gutted the texans of all talent through horrible negotiations broken trades and having the confidence of belichick to cut players loose while having none of his ability to replace them i highly recommend brett coleman's video to get a great understanding of why the texans are now in free fall essentially bill o'brien is an example of a coach who strong-armed his way up the ladder in houston's front office and after reaching the top rung he had no one left to challenge his outright terrible ideas in roster construction like say being so willing to move on from deandre hopkins when he wanted a new contract that o'brien accepted a second round pick and then aged david johnson in return for that that's absolutely disgusting or how about forcing your left tackle out the door right as you secure a franchise quarterback meaning you later have to give up two first-round picks for another left tackle out of necessity and now you're coerced into giving him a massive extension since you just sold the farm to get him there as it turns out trying to send a message through roster moves with massive implications is a formula for kneecapping a team's future and with bloated contracts taken on and draft picks handed out like candy that's exactly what bob's power trip did the patriots have always been able to play hardball at the negotiating table because they know everyone wants to play for a winning organization but when bill o'brien played hardball he was doing it out of his own arrogance to think that the only piece the texans needed to succeed was him and as an act of karmic justice he ended up taking on some of the most expensive contracts in the league for players that were ultimately replacements for talent he kicked out the door so the moral of the story while belichick's locker room culture is difficult to recreate the results he's generated in the front office are nigh impossible and if you try to wheel and deal like he does you are literally going to pay the price so those are a couple of the most fundamental reasons why belichick's assistants have fallen flat in trying to imitate their mentor because the run of championship seasons the patriots strung together was done in a situation where every element fit together seamlessly owners see that success and want to mimic the patriot way but that ignores the fact that it took the greatest head coach and greatest quarterback of all time working side by side for decades to create that dynasty on the field not to mention all the behind the scenes management that went into building a competitive roster year over year even now you're seeing the pains that new england is going through to try and move on from the end of that era and it's going to take time but when patriots assistants are hand selected to replicate the success they had with belichick their abrasive nature tends to wear out their welcome on new teams significantly faster than other young coaches but it's not like every patriots assistant is doomed to the exact same fate in fact for the belichick coaching tree brian flores looks to be the best shot at a redemption story as a leader who isn't trying to impersonate so much as create genuine belief in where the dolphins are headed and joe judge's mid-season turnaround of the giants also shows significant promise going forward are these guys going to be exceptions to the decades-long rule only time is going to be able to tell but if there is one thing that they and others that will follow in their path should take away from new england it's this no one else can be bill belichick and the sooner you realize that the better off everyone in the organization is going to be [Music] uh you

Channel: Set the Edge

Views: 580,744

Keywords: bill obrien, bill obrian, bill belichick, bill belicheck, matt patricia, matt patrica, bill belichick coaching tree, belichick coaching tree

Id: T87191vNtVI

Length: 13min 51sec (831 seconds)

Published: Mon Dec 28 2020