Still No. 1? Patriots' Bill Belichick Gets Lofty NFL Coach Ranking
With a .500 record and no playoff wins since Tom Brady left town three seasons ago, there are rumblings in Foxboro that 71-year-old New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick may have lost his fastball.
Belichick was roundly criticized for handing the offensive reins to a long-time defensive coach in Matt Patricia. Last year's Patriots were uncharacteristically sloppy on special teams, quarterback Mac Jones drastically regressed, and they missed the playoffs by one game after twice losing in the final seconds on bone-headed plays including a fumble and a bizarre lateral.
And now 2023 isn't exactly off to a smooth start, as Belichick has been fined $50,000 and his team docked two OTA sessions for violating the league's offseason rules against mandatory meetings.
Alas, not everyone is convinced the future Hall of Famer has deteriorated into a bumbling fool.
The folks over at The 33rd Team this week released their NFL head coach rankings. Belichick isn't first, but nor is he last. In fact, the only coach ahead of the Pats' 23-season boss is the one who last February lifted the Lombardi Trophy.
The rankings:
1. Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs
2. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots
3. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers
4. Sean Payton, Denver Broncos
5. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Says 33rdTeam of Belichick:
Belichick was the best schematic head coach of the nine I played for in the NFL. However, one playoff victory in 10 seasons without Tom Brady as his starting quarterback is beginning to take some of the shine off those six Super Bowl rings they won together. It feels like Belichick the general manager isn’t giving Belichick the coach enough to work with.
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