Tom Brady’s dad, Tom Brady Sr., defended Bill Belichick following his release from the New England Patriots, but didn’t hold back when assessing the main reason behind his son’s split from New England.
Brady Sr., 79, who called Belichick “the best coach in football, bar none,” went on to bash the coach’s people skills.
“Bill is tough,” Brady Sr. said. “He runs a military system. It’s a different generation. Bill is a great, great, great coach. But his interpersonal skills are horrible. That’s the bottom line.
“How many times has he said — back in ‘15 or ‘16 — that he wanted to win without Tommy? When he went without Tommy, he didn’t know what he was losing. You’re losing more than just a quarterback.
“Ego sometimes gets in the way of things. I think it did with Bill. Now, he’s in a situation where he’s gotten crucified for the last few years by everybody and a lot of luster has come off his rose.”
According to the Globe, Patriots owner Robert Kraft went as far as apologizing to Brady during his return at the 2023 season opener. Kraft reportedly told Brady Sr., “I made a mistake,” with regards to the parting of ways with his son.
Brady was able to outlast Belichick, but others are not as lucky. The system broke Mac Jones in just three years, taking the first-round prospect from a solid season as a cerebral pocket-passer to a midseason benching in 2023, a shell of his former self and near-incapable of making consistent accurate reads. According to MassLive, Belichick wouldn’t even talk to Jones by the end of the 4-13 run.
Despite Belichick’s harsh exterior, Brady Sr. did tell the Globe he was surprised the coach was not hired by a team in 2024. He was reportedly close to the Atlanta Falcons job, which eventually went to Raheem Morris, but he only had confirmed conversations with the Falcons and Washington Commanders. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport previously reported that Belichick would be willing to sit out for the proper job to open up next year. He finished the 2023 season 15 wins shy of setting the all-time wins record for head coaches.
“Bill loves coaching,” Brady Sr. said. “But again, I don’t know if teams look at Bill — he’s 71 now — I don’t know that they’re going to bend over backward for him, to provide him the full array of control that he wants to have. That’s the bottom line.”
