It was a little over two months ago when former NFL running back LeSean McCoy unleashed a verbal tirade on New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
He obviously had more to say on the matter because the second part of that rant randomly came up during a recent appearance on “Up & Adams,” when the show’s host, Kay Adams, referred to Belichick as a “legend.”
That one word had McCoy raising his eyebrows before he went into an entire monologue on Belichick being a sub .500 coach without Tom Brady as his quarterback.
“He’s had Tom Brady. If you take away Tom Brady, do you know what he is? He’s under .500. That’s what it is,” said McCoy. “I think he was very blessed to have Tom Brady, and I think now that he doesn’t have Tom Brady, he’s like all of the other good coaches—the Marvin Lewises, the Rex Ryans. I’m just being honest. People hate for you to be real about Belichick. I think he’s a good coach, but all of ‘the greatest’ and ‘we’ve never seen anything like him,’ that’s bullcrap.”
LeSean McCoy on people crediting Bill Belichick as a legend:⁰⁰“I think he is a good coach. All ‘the greatest’ and ‘we’ve never seen anything like him’. That’s bullcrap.’”⁰⁰📺: @FanDuelTV @heykayadams @CutOnDime25 pic.twitter.com/P3omxywm6z
— Up & Adams (@UpAndAdamsShow) November 14, 2022
McCoy is free to have that opinion, but his arguments get lost behind the fact that every all-time great coach had great players. You shouldn’t have to be Rick Moranis coaching “The Little Giants” to the Super Bowl to be considered a legend in the NFL.
Sure, Tom Brady was a big reason for the Patriots’ success. He might have even been the biggest reason for it. I’ll let you all be the judges of that debate.
But the fact of the matter is Brady likely wouldn’t have won six Super Bowls without Belichick, and Belichick certainly wouldn’t have won that many championships without Brady.
At the end of the day, the Patriots caught lightning in a bottle thanks to Belichick making the decision to take Brady with the 199th pick of the 2020 NFL draft. Those earlier championship teams that leaned mostly on Belichick’s defenses were built from the ground up.
You don’t have to agree that Belichick is the greatest coach in NFL history, but it’s a bit of a reach to scoff at him for being deemed a legend. Brady wasn’t with the team last season, and they still made the playoffs with a rookie quarterback under center.
Even this year, they’re still very much in the fight with a 5-4 record and a seventh place ranking in the AFC playoff picture.
The Patriots didn’t suddenly turn into roadkill when Brady went stomping off to Tampa Bay. They’re very much in the mix with a 70-year-old Belichick still at the helm.
