Seth Wickersham, your latest report inside the last days of Bill Belichick in New England begins, of all places, the night of Super Bowl 55, with Tom Brady winning his seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Bucs.
How did that game reverberate all the way back to Foxborough?
Yeah, you remember it.It was Super Bowl 55 in Tampa almost three years ago, which is kind of crazy.Remember the stands weren't even full due to COVID protocols.Right.
And that was the night that Tom Brady became the first NFL player to win seven championships.
One thing remains the same.Tom Brady is a Super Bowl champion again for the record-setting seventh time.
Every year is amazing.And this team is world champions forever.You can't take it away from us.
While he was on the field with his kids and his wife at the time under the confetti, his family was up in a suite and his parents opened a bottle of champagne. Nobody said a word about New England up there, but it was simply understood.
Tom Brady had left the Patriots just one season earlier, and he had taken, you know, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of all teams, not only to the playoffs, but to the Super Bowl and to a championship.
— The family celebrating.Mom and dad right there in the center.
They weren't just toasting Tom Brady's win in the Super Bowl.I think they were toasting the fact that the bell for the Patriots dynasty had kind of tolled right there.
And when he won that game, Brady, Belichick, and Kraft were no longer fighting for credit.Brady had claimed that credit undeniably on the most public stage in sports.
And that seventh title meant that Kraft and Belichick were now fighting to not be blamed. In the weeks after that, Robert Kraft was just festering.And he told a confidant, Bill had told me that he couldn't play anymore.
And then he goes out and wins the f***ing Super Bowl.
It only became official last Thursday.But the writing had been on the wall for weeks, if not months. Bill Belichick's reign in New England, the greatest run by any coach in NFL history, was ended.
A 13-loss season, the worst of his career, and growing dysfunction in the organization were the ultimate undoing.But the seeds of his decline go back much, much further.Long before Tom Brady's departure, in fact.
So today, our Patriot's Whisperer, Seth Wickersham, helps pinpoint when Belichick's fall started and how much of his so-called patriot way was illusion and how much was real.I'm Israel Gutierrez.It's Wednesday, January 17th.This is ESPN Daily.
Anywhere worth going is worth going in good boots.Find your perfect pair with Tekovis.Tekovis crafts quality Western boots for everyone from generational ranchers and lifelong cowboys to first-time boot buyers.
Born in Texas in 2015, Tekovis makes it easy for anyone to find their perfect boot. Every one of Tekova's boots are handcrafted with over 200 meticulous steps for broken in comfort right out of the box, kiddos.
Whether it's a long day or a big night, your Tekovas are built to last and impress.That's why Esquire loves them and says, quote, there's a reason we keep coming back to Tekovas.Ever wondered if you can pull off boots with your personal style?
You owe it to your feet to put on a pair of Tekovas. Plus, with Tecova's Best in the West Guarantee, you get free returns and exchanges for 30 days.Right now, get 10% off tecovas.com slash daily when you sign up for email and texts.
That's 10% off T-E-C-O-V-A-S dot com slash daily.tecovas.com slash daily.See site for details.Tecovas, point your toes west.
Seth, we've all been spending the last few months trying to make sense of how this all fell apart really dramatically in New England for Bill Belichick.
But this report you issued with the help of Wright Thompson and Don Van Natta suggests the decline of Belichick and ultimately the so-called Patriot Way goes back even further than I think all of us really understood.
And the story you tell is really about how the most functional franchise in all of sports became extremely dysfunctional.So if you could fill us in on when that started to turn, when the decline really began.
Well, it's not a straight line.I think that relationships had started to fray, you know, 13, 14 years ago during the 2010 off season, Tom Brady was involved in a contentious contract negotiation with the Patriots.
The team was still committed to Tom Brady, but they wanted to continue getting him at a discount at a time when he didn't feel like he deserved much of a discount and in fact deserved to be paid as one of the top quarterbacks in the game.
And there was a meeting that was out in the Hamptons. between Brady and Robert Kraft.And Kraft had started to assert himself a little bit more in these types of delicate situations involving his two most important employees.
And they ended up agreeing on a contract.
You know, I love being here.I really do.I love playing for this organization.It's the only organization I've ever known.It's a great place.If you like winning games, it's a great place.
But more importantly, they ended up having a quiet, tacit agreement that if Bill Belichick ever decided to move on from Tom Brady, Robert Kraft would give Brady some say in how it went or what his next destination would be.
Kraft's motivation in all of this was to keep the band together as long as he possibly could.And I think that was one of the key early things that
you know, not only helped keep them together, but let Brady believe that he had a true ally in Gillette Stadium, knowing full well that Bill Belichick had based his entire philosophy and ethos over getting rid of a player one year too early than one year too late.
And just to give an example of how that power dynamic had shifted just in the few years since it began, after they won their first Super Bowl in your reporting, you mentioned that Tom Brady asked Bill Belichick if he could go to Disney World the next day.
And now you've got a handful of years later and three Super Bowls later. Brady sort of pulling a power move with Robert Kraft here.But you mentioned that was 13, 14 years ago.They worked together for another decade after that.
So if those were just the early stages of the demise, how did it ramp up from there?
Well, it's true, right?I mean, it's phenomenal and mind-blowing how long they were able to keep it together and how they were able to win.
I mean, Kraft didn't want the Patriots to become like Jerry Jones's Dallas Cowboys, where egos got in the way and ended up destroying what could have been one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history, if not the greatest.
If you want to develop something that has sustainability, the first thing is you try to attract good people that fit your culture.The trick of that is to make sure there's never division from within.
There can be a lot of different opinions from within, but that you keep it together and get everyone to check their ego at the front door.
But in the years after that contract negotiation, I think there was a feeling in the building that Brady just wasn't finishing the seasons that well.
He didn't play well in the fourth quarter loss to the Giants in the second Super Bowl, the second time those two teams played. He wasn't great in the AFC championship game at the end of the 2013 season.
And so before the 2014 season, Belichick started looking at a successor. He provided Kraft a study detailing how even the greatest quarterbacks drop off in their mid-30s.
And he ended up drafting Jimmy Garoppolo in the second round and was deeply invested in setting up him to succeed Brady.And now Brady, of course, he responded like his childhood hero Joe Montana did when the 49ers traded for Steve Young.
So he was aware of this study that said,
He was aware of the study and he was set out.It was right around that time, remember, he starts talking about playing until he's 45 years old.And everyone kind of rolls their eyes about it, but he's dead serious about that.
He is going to prove everybody wrong, especially this, you know, flippant study that Belichick provided to Robert Kraft.And, man, did he find that extra gear.First and goal.
Brady, fade to the corner and a foul!He's got it! Touchdown!This one could close it out.Brady, though, goes down the field to Gronkowski, and he has the football at the 10-yard line.
They end up winning two more Super Bowls in the coming years.
Brady and Belichick, and they have certainly burnished their legacy.
Both fourth quarter comebacks from double digits.
Toss to White.He's in!Patriots win the Super Bowl!Brady has his fifth! What a comeback!
After the Falcon Superbowl though, in January, in the off season of 2017, the dynamic in the building really shifted with Brady wanting another contract that would take him until he was age 45.
Belichick seeming reticent to do so, Kraft trying to balance these two egos and alphas.That's I think really where their relationship started to go downhill and it's been pretty well documented by me and others how things went.
Okay, so we've got Jimmy Garoppolo in the fold.You've got Tom Brady heading toward another potential contract negotiation with the Patriots.How does it continue to unfold from there?
Yeah, all of these issues. Garoppolo, Brady's agent contract.Remember, there was even some raw feelings about Deflategate and how that was handled.
There was the Patriot Way, the atmosphere that Belichick fostered in New England, which could be incredibly emotionless at times.And a lot of players were getting tired of just not being happy at work every day.
And then, of course, Brady's promotion of his business, the TB12 method.All of that came to a head in 2017. Belichick famously curtailed Alex Guerrero's access.Remember, he was Tom Brady's trainer and best friend.
And at one point, they were working out of a maintenance shed at Gillette Stadium that stored tractors.If you can believe that, Tom Brady working out of a maintenance shed.Crazy.
And Brady didn't want to return to the Patriots unless something changed.And even Belichick talked about going somewhere else.
After releasing a statement in January 18 denying that there was tension between his two most important employees, Kraft wanted fans to know how the next couple of months went and how he helped solve that tension.
He was able to get some of Alex Guerrero's access restored.And then fast forward in August of 2019, negotiations were tense.At one point, Brady thought about leaving training camp, staging a walkout because he was so frustrated.He didn't, of course.
But reporters asked him about his contract and he didn't mention Bill Belichick, who of course famously has final say overall football personnel decisions.He said, talk to Mr. Kraft.
So I want to highlight a short quote from Brady that you heard secondhand.The quote is about Robert Kraft, and the quote is, quote, he backed Bill.Meaning when push came to shove, Kraft chose to stick with Bill Belichick and let Brady walk.
Why do you think Kraft ultimately decided to make that decision?
Because I think Kraft knew that Belichick had the contractual authority to open the door for Tom Brady to walk out and let him do it if he wanted.And what Kraft did How he inserted himself in that decision was to allow Brady to be a free agent.
Remember, right before the 2019 season, the Patriots announced that Tom Brady had agreed to a new contract, a two-year contract.But like so many NFL contracts, that really wasn't what it was.
It was really a contract for the 2019 season with a slight raise and an out.It allowed Tom Brady to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.That was all Robert Kraft.
And 48 hours after that announcement, Tom Brady and his wife at the time let word out that they had put their Boston house up for sale.It was obvious that that was going to be Tom Brady's last season in New England.So he ends up going to Tampa Bay.
They kind of slog through the beginning of the season.Then they get hot at the end of it.And Brady kind of rekindles that magic and has that familiar unstoppable look and they end up winning the Superbowl.
Yeah.Meanwhile, in new England, it's seven and nine in 2020, 10 and seven and 21, eight and nine in 2022.
And according to your reporting after that 2022 season, Robert Kraft and his son, Jonathan felt like the time had come to assert themselves a little bit more in the organization.How did that play out?
Well, there were really two moves that they made and they had a big hand in making.
Obviously, Belichick ended up going along with them, but they had a big hand in making that showed, I think, everybody that times were changing around Gillette Stadium.The first one was they released a press release a year ago.
Announcing that Gerard Mayo was working on a contract extension now.
He was an assistant coach on Belichick staff He was a fantastic player for the Patriots the Carolina Panthers wanted to interview him for their head coach opening and Kraft got involved as he's done sometimes in the past ends up sweetening Gerard Mayo's deal, but the interesting thing is they released a press release before the deal was done and
And Belichick's name was on it.That has never happened.
So the fact that he had released a press release that indicated that Gerard Mayo was going to agree to a contract that would keep him with the Patriots long-term was the first sign that something was a little different.
The second was when they brought in Bill O'Brien for his second tour in New England to be offensive coordinator, and they released a press release about that, too.Now, it just doesn't happen in New England.
Bill Belichick signed on to bring O'Brien on.The offense had been a disaster the year before, but O'Brien's had a great relationship with the Crafts.
When it looked like that Belichick might leave New England during the 2017 season, he joked that he was trying to get fired. from his job as the Houston Texans head coach so he could replace Belichick in New England.
And again, these decisions just had the hallmarks of Robert and Jonathan Kraft on them.And it showed that they were asserting themselves more in football operations with their team.
You wrote that empowering Mayo and O'Brien, quote, subtly eroded Belichick's authority inside the building.Why was that the case?What did that look like?
Well, it was like the Patriots had three head coaches.They had Bill O'Brien, who felt empowered to fix the offenses he saw fit by the Crafts.You had Gerard Mayo, who Robert Kraft had said publicly last March might be the heir apparent.
And then you had the actual head coach, Bill Belichick, who looked like he was coaching for his job. And Belichick just began to think that the Crafts had eroded the culture that he had built.
Nobody ever challenged Bill Belichick's authority on the personnel or the coaching staffs, but things just kind of were different.
I think in years past, Belichick would set a vision about what he wanted out of a player and he would leave it to the staff to execute it.But it was obvious during this season to those internally that that was a thing of the past.
When Brady came back during the Patriots home opener against the Eagles to be celebrated at halftime, it was more than to try to make amends for his awkward exit.
You know, Brady's entire family was up in the suite with Robert Kraft sitting next to him during the game.And Kraft was mocking his head coach down on the field, calling him the great intelligent man.And
It was clear to the Brady family that not only was he kind of playing to the crowd, obviously the family's not too pleased with the way that Belichick treated Brady at the end, but it was also just making clear that I think that the two most powerful people with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, were just really starting to get tired of each other.
And you mentioned in your story the treatment of Mac Jones and how that was indicative of the difference of opinion between Kraft and Belichick.Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Well, I think that the Krafts were invested in trying to see if Mac Jones could go back to his rookie season under Josh McDaniels when he was a really good player.Led them to the playoffs.
Obviously they lost in the playoffs, but he was a really good player. And trying to see if there's anything they could do to try to recapture that.Obviously, bringing in new players was part of that.Bill O'Brien was a huge part of that.
But the offense just never clicked.They couldn't get a lead.One of the staples of Bill Belichick's run with the Patriots is they always, always got off.Well, almost always got off to hot starts.
Yes, exactly. But they could not get ahead, and they had no explosive players.And it was just obvious that Mac Jones was just continuing to regress and regress.
And in the offseason, Belichick had raised the idea of trading Mac Jones, and the Crafts weren't for it.They wanted to see the season play out with a new coordinator, new personnel, see what would happen.
Of course, Belichick could have traded him if he wanted.He had the authority to do so, but he ended up going along with what his bosses wanted.
And people kept wondering, like, why Belichick would leave Mac Jones in games when he was clearly struggling, clearly broken, clearly without confidence.And the game itself was decided.And one confidant said, because it was a f*** you to the crafts.
Quite the message for your boss.
Um, you mentioned that, uh, Patriot staff members told you that even if the results weren't there, Belichick worked his tail off until the very end, but they still couldn't even beat the jets set in the final week of the season in the snow.
The season was over from there.What do you know about how Belichick and craft made it official that their marriage was over as well?
Yeah, and I think people in the staff could just tell towards the end of 2023 that this was it.You know, Belichick would usually give assistant coaches projects to do for the off season, preparing for the draft or free agency.
There wasn't any of that this year.
When Bill O'Brien got frustrated at a meeting and ended up kind of slamming his chair and stomping out, you know, that was, the coaches watched that and they just thought, you know, you just don't do that around Bill Belichick.
This time Belichick just kind of let it go.It was as if he knew that this thing was ending soon.They lost to the Jets.Some of the fans stayed to try to give him a tribute even though it wasn't official that he was going to be leaving.
And he walked off that field.He didn't acknowledge them.His face was covered by a ski mask. Someone who had made it a lifetime out of making himself hard to read made himself impossible to see in that moment.
And he ended up going down a tunnel without even acknowledging the fans and walked down the hallway until he was gone. Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick met the next day.They both had their lists of things that they wanted to see improved.
They met several times that week, but it was just obvious that I don't think either of them wanted to continue this going as it was.I don't think that the differences were something that either of them could realistically bridge.
And on Wednesday, a day before it was announced that Belichick would be out, after all of those brilliant moments in 24 years of coaching that team, he started to clean out his office.
After the break, what the future holds for the greatest football coach ever.
In college football, a solid defensive line protects the end zone.And when it comes to fire safety, quality smoke alarms can help you protect your home.That's where Kitta comes in.
Their alarms detect smoke over 25% faster, so you can react when seconds count.Plus, they're quick and easy to install, so you can help protect your home turf and get back to watching your team.Defend your game time with Kitta and the Home Depot.
How doers get more done. 29% faster average smoke detection based on internal testing of smoldering wood fires for Kitta 9th Edition versus leading competitor 8th Edition products.
Blinds.com is kicking off the savings early with Black Friday Mega Deals all month long.A Blinds.com design expert can help you make the perfect selection on your schedule.
We can even handle everything from measure to your whole home installed for just one low cost.With over 25 million windows covered, Blinds.com is the number one online retailer of custom window coverings.
Save up to 45% on select styles, plus a free professional measure right now at Blinds.com.Rules and restrictions may apply.
Seth, before the break, you noted what played out privately last week.But publicly, we did see Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick come before the media and make the official announcement that they'd be parting ways.
What stood out about that press conference to you?
Well, it was funny because, of course, as he did when he was announced as the Patriots head coach in 2000, Belichick began this press conference with a joke.
Seen this many cameras since we signed Thiebaud. T-Bone's always good for a laugh.
And Belichick, it was just classic Belichick.He spoke for a few minutes with themes of gratitude and appreciation.
This is a day of gratitude and celebration.Start with Robert and his family.It's great.So much thanks for the opportunity to be a coach here for 24 years.It's an amazing opportunity.Received tremendous support.
We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here.And that's exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations.
He didn't mention Jonathan.He didn't mention Gerard Mayo by name either.He kind of got choked up when he was talking about the fans and everything that they've meant to him over the years.
And finally to the fans.You know, the fans here are amazing.You know, there's so many memories of the fans, seeing the fans, you know, away from here, you know, at a gas station or a grocery store, you know, wherever you bump into them.
So appreciative of the fans for all the support they've given me, my family, and this football team.
And he needed no notes.I mean, he spoke from the heart.He stared straight ahead.He knew exactly what it is that he wanted to say.And when it was over, he and Kraft engaged in an awkward handshake, which was completely predictable.
And he left that stadium for the last time as head coach with no one really knowing what his future was going to look like.Other than it was clear that he wanted to continue coaching.You know, Kraft got up there.
He said that it was a very emotional day for him.
The man standing to my left brought the leadership and coaching skills that were needed to make this type of unprecedented success that we have had possible.
Someone once told me about Robert Kraft, that he's the type of business leader who can walk through a minefield and somehow avoid stepping on any mines.And I think that when he knew that it was time to move on from Belichick,
I think the thing that he cared about most was how this thing looked.There was an optics aspect to it that was important to him.One of his confidants said, you know, throughout the process it was, how can I look as best I can on this thing?
And he got what he wanted.They hugged at the end of it.It looked amicable and it was an amazing performance because as this person told me, I don't think Bill has given Robert eye contact in a year and a half.Okay. But we'll see.
When Robert Kraft met the press later that day, he was up there alone.And it feels like that he's as alone as he's ever been with his franchise.
Obviously, they announced Gerard Mayo would succeed Belichick as head coach less than 24 hours after that news conference.But Robert Kraft's alone with his decisions at this point.
And the greatest dynasty that football has seen since the Cleveland Browns in the 50s is officially over.
Yeah, it probably doesn't feel great to be the last one standing there at this time.
But Seth, just thinking about sort of the level of dysfunction that this team had, even from the third Super Bowl on amongst the most important people in the franchise, I'm wondering how did it ever work, Seth?
Well, we talk a lot about the Patriot Way and what that means.And it means a lot of things.
I think it means, you know, subversion of self in pursuit of winning, in pursuit of having the closest thing that you can have to an actual team in professional sports.But it's fair to wonder if the Patriot Way ever really existed.
Or whether there was two really special people, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, who came into each other's lives at the most fragile moment in their careers.Tom Brady wondering if he was going to have an NFL career.
Bill Belichick coming off a 5-11 season in his first year coaching the Patriots.If he would be a failed head coach after working in professional football his entire adult life.
They came into each other's lives at that perfect time and they took the ambition, the ruthlessness, the savvy and the talent and the work ethic that they shared to the nth degree.And they achieved things that nobody else could.
And eventually it came to an end.Tom Brady soured on the team and the team soured on him.He moved on. And then it was just Belichick up there.And he had ordered his adult life and his relationships around the demands and the rituals of his craft.
He grew up with a dream about what a football team could be if the game were taught well and the players and the coaches sacrificed celebrity and income for wins.And he changed football forever with it.
Now we're going to see if those philosophies and theories and ethics are transferable because it's clear that he wants to keep coaching until he passes Don Shula on the all time wins list.He's 15 down.
Yeah.And you could see, and we've all seen how difficult it was to maintain the Patriot way, how fragile it was.And yet you mentioned he does want to coach again.Where do you think his mind's at right now?
What's your sense of what he's looking for in an organization or in his future?
I don't know.It'd be fascinating to know right now. I think that he wants to try to stay on the East Coast.I think that he wants to go to a team that is similar in a lot of ways to the Bucks when Tom Brady went there.
A team that has some talent, but needs that extra something, that bit of greatness to help get it over the hump.We'll see which team that ends up being.He may not get everything he wants.
Well, Seth, it seems like Don Shula's record for all-time wins is within his grasp and that Bill Belichick is speaking to teams reportedly about potentially coaching somewhere else.
So as somebody who grew up in South Florida watching the Miami Dolphins, it feels even to me like it should be Bill Belichick's record.So we'll see what the next chapter in his incredible career brings.Thank you, Seth.
I'm Israel Gutierrez.This has been ESPN Daily.We'll talk to you tomorrow.
Sign in
