Bill Belichick and the Dolphins
Big coaching names keep falling around the NFL this week, none bigger than longtime Miami Dolphins nemesis Bill Belichick.
The New England Patriots announced Thursday they had mutually agreed to part ways with Belichick, and he and team owner Robert Kraft both delivered separate statements at a press conference.
This means the Dolphins will be facing New England in the 2024 with somebody other than Belichick as their head coach for the first time in the millennium.
We examine Belichick's departure through a Dophins lens:
THE DOLPHINS AGAINST BELICHICK
In Belichick's 24 seasons as Patriots head coach, the Dolphins compiled a 21-26 record against New England, which actually is solid work considering Belichick's overall success.
His .553 winning percentage against Miami is much lower than his overall regular season mark with New England of .687.
And the Dolphins have had a lot of success against New England in recent years, winning six of the past seven meetings. The only exception was the Week 17 game last season when Tua Tagovailoa was sidelined because of a concussion and backup QB Teddy Bridgewater was knocked out of the game in the third quarter of an eventual 23-21 New England victory.
Even before that, one could argue that the Dolphins played a big role in ending the New England dynasty. Their 2019 victory at Gillette Stadium in the season finale moved New England from the top seed to the No. 3 spot and they ended up losing the following week at home against New England in what became Tom Brady's final game with the Patriots before he moved on to Tampa Bay.
BELICHICK AND THE SHULA CHASE
Belichick will leave New England with a 266-121-0 regular season plus a 30-12 mark in the playoffs. Adding in his five seasons with Cleveland, Belichick has an overall record of 333-178-0.
The 333 victories are 14 shy of the all-time NFL record that belongs, of course, to Dolphins legend Don Shula.
Under normal circumstances, this means that Belichick likely needs to coach at least two more years to break the record, and he's likely to have some options when it comes to his next destination — unless he decides he's done.
Less than a week after the end of the regular season, there already are seven NFL coaching vacancies besides the one in New England just created by Belichick's departure: Atlanta, Carolina, Las Vegas, L.A. Chargers, Seattle, Tennessee and Washington.
Don't be surprised if Belichick's name ends up being mentioned in connection with all of those openings.
WHAT NEXT FOR NEW ENGLAND?
Belichick's departure means that Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel no longer will have the shortest tenure in the division.
Buffalo's Sean McDermott is the longest-tenured coach in the AFC East, in the process of completing his seventh season with the Bills. Robert Saleh just ended his third season with the New York Jets, while McDaniel is in his second season with Miami.
As for who will replace Belichick in New England, the betting favorites include in-house candidate Jerod Mayo and recently available Mike Vrabel.
Coming in at tied for 10th favorite, per odds from BetOnline, was Brian Flores, the Dolphins head coach from 2019-21. Remember that Flores was a longtime Patriots assistant coach before he took over in Miami.
He spent the 2023 season as the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator after being an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers the previous season.
DOLPHINS CONNECTIONS
Several players through the years played at different times for Belichick and for the Dolphins, including four members of the current roster —Braxton Berrios, Justin Bethel, Jake Bailey, Calvin Munson and IR'ed guard Isaiah Wynn.
In addition, wide receivers coach Wes Welker saw his career as a player take off after the Dolphins traded him to New England in 2007 to join Belichick (and Brady).
Belichick's final New England roster included former Dolphins players Davon Godchaux, DeVante Parker, Mike Gesicki and Raekwon McMillan (spent the whole season on IR).
