ATLANTA _ It has turned out to be a delightful anniversary for Patriots fans, a reminder of just how good life has been under Bill Belichick.
For Jets fans, not so much.
Sunday was 19 years to the day that the Patriots hired Bill Belichick as coach, a date that represented a sea change in NFL history ... and yet another reminder of what might have been for the Jets.
Just weeks after Belichick famously declined to become the Jets' coach _ writing "I BB resign as HC of the NYJ" on a napkin and submitting it to the team _ he was named Patriots coach after a protracted negotiation brokered by commissioner Paul Tagliabue. Patriots owner Robert Kraft paid handsomely for the right to hire Belichick, surrendering four draft picks, including a first-rounder.
Nine Super Bowl championship appearances and five Vince Lombardi Trophy presentations later, that price tag is a pittance for what the Patriots ended up with.
Belichick quickly flourished in New England, winning his first Super Bowl in just his second season and creating the most long-lasting dynasty in NFL history. Eighteen years later, it is still going strong.
The Jets? They are still waiting for their first Super Bowl championship since Joe Namath led the team to victory in Super Bowl III 50 years ago. Recently they hired Adam Gase to try and turn the tide of history. The former Dolphins coach is one of 184 to work the NFL sidelines in the time Belichick has worked for the Patriots.
It's an absolutely stunning run of achievement, forged in large part because of future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, who has shattered almost every record there is, especially in the playoffs.
But make no mistake: There is no Patriots dynasty without Belichick, who has reaped the benefits of having a franchise quarterback but whose genius is every bit a part of New England's success as Brady.
Belichick's record is extraordinary. In 24 seasons he's 261-123, with only Don Shula and George Halas having won more games. He's 30-11 in the playoffs, and his five Super Bowl championships are the most of any coach. So are his nine Super Bowl appearances.
A defensive mastermind who was instrumental in the Giants' two Super Bowl championships under Bill Parcells, Belichick's concepts have revolutionized the game, particularly on defense. He has adapted to and conquered every offensive trend, from the run-and-shoot offenses of the 1980's, to the West Coast offense to ... well, just about any wrinkle that has been devised by the game's great tacticians.
But just as incredible as his ability to solve offenses _ and contributing important ideas to Brady's offense _ Belichick has managed to survive in a business filled with turnover and burnout. Where most coaches struggle with the wide range of emotions that invariably occur over the course of a season and a career, Belichick has a comparatively flat-line personality that allows him to endure the inevitable ups and downs that often consume his peers. Burnout has claimed the careers of great coaches such as Parcells, Joe Gibbs, Bill Walsh and Dick Vermeil, but never Belichick.
He has spent nearly a quarter century as a head coach and 44 consecutive years as a head coach or an assistant. It's astonishing.
When Belichick was the Giants' defensive coordinator in the late 1980's, I asked how he was able to survive the mental grind of the NFL season, a seven-day-a-week ordeal that required every ounce of energy for players and coaches. It was clear back then that Belichick was one of the game's most intense coaches, someone who devoted countless hours to film work and practice techniques _ even if no one, perhaps not even him, could have foreseen that he'd go on to a legendary head-coaching career. But his capacity for work was incredible.
Belichick shrugged and said, "I don't know. You just do it."
He has done it now for an eternity.
Coaches often talk about living in the here and now, only to fall victim to the accumulation of hard times _ and even exhaustion that often comes with success. But Belichick has the unique ability to truly exist in the moment and not succumb to emotions that consume others. Here's a perfect example:
Belichick was asked the other day if he believes that last year's loss to the Eagles in Super Bowl LII would provide added motivation to this year's Super Bowl against the Rams.
"Well, I think right now, this football team is this football team," he said, a riff off his oft-said line, "It is what it is." "It's not any other one, and we're going to do the best we can to perform as well as we can against the Rams. That's going to be a huge challenge, but it's really just about us right now. There's nothing in the past that does or doesn't help us. We're going to bond together and coach and play as well as we can next Sunday night."
No reference to last year. No reference to last week. Nothing but what's right in front of him.
What's in front of him now is yet another opportunity for a championship, and the possibility of adding another accomplishment to a career defined by unfathomable success.
