Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Bill Belichick appears to land a dig at Kraft family while talking move to UNC
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son, there’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that."
It seems as though Bill Belichick has few qualms with leaving Foxborough and the NFL ranks for a spot in Chapel Hill.
Speaking to The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin in an exclusive interview this week, UNC head football coach Bill Belichick didn’t pull any punches when asked about the freedom afforded to him now that he has the reins of the Tar Heels program.
“It’s a much more cohesive, and I’d say unified, view of what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it,” Belichick told Volin. “It’s a lot of football, and there’s not much in your way.”
Advertisement:
After leaving the Patriots after 24 seasons at the helm via a “mutual parting of ways” with the franchise he won six Super Bowls with, there hasn’t been plenty of love lost between Belichick and his former team — especially as it pertains to owner Robert Kraft and his family.
Belichick noted that in his conversation with Volin, especially in regards to the chain of command present in the NFL.
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son, there’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level,” Belichick told Volin. “Generic NFL teams, you have the owner, president, general manager, personnel director, college director, pro director, cap guy, some other consultant, then head coach.
Advertisement:
“I’d say when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and more of a direct vision. And as that expanded, it became harder to be successful.”
This is not the first time that Belichick has opined about the fragmented vision in place over his final seasons with the Patriots — with the future Hall-of-Fame head coach noting on the “Let’s Go!” podcast with Jim Gray in January that both he and Kraft had a differing viewpoint of the team as his tenure in New England came to a close.
“That’s (Robert Kraft’s) choice,” Belichick said. “People that own the team have the choice to do whatever they want to do. The other people that were in place … it’s also the rest of the organization, it’s not just the head coach.
“So, you know, Robyn Glaser, Jonathan Kraft, whoever the other people are that are involved in those decisions and the structure of the organization. But you need that shared vision between ownership and the coaching and scouting. And that’s when you can be successful.”
Advertisement:
Speaking to Gray, Belichick said that both he and Kraft eventually had a fragmented relationship as the team started to slide from perennial contenders to a rebuilding club once Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay in March 2020.
“I had that up until about the last four years in New England,” Belichick said of a shared vision in Foxborough. “And when you have that shared vision and everybody pulling in the same direction, you have a chance and you can get a lot done. And even if you don’t win at all, you’re still really competitive,” Belichick noted.
“But when you’re going in different directions, then that makes it really hard to keep up with everybody else. So I think you look at the organizations and you can see the ones that are and the ones that aren’t.”
While the Patriots will now look to move forward with Mike Vrabel as head coach, Belichick will open his first season as a college football coach on Monday, Sept. 1 with a matchup against TCU.
As for whether Belichick will still keep tabs on Vrabel and the Patriots this season?
Advertisement:
“Honestly, I’m pretty busy here,” Belichick told Volin.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com