Tom Brady Sr. says Bill Belichick is “the best coach in football,” but one characteristic ultimately led to his son’s breakup with the longtime Patriots coach.
After 20 seasons and six Super Bowls together, Brady left the Patriots for the Buccaneers and won another Super Bowl in his first year with Tampa Bay, while Belichick went 29-38 with the Patriots after Brady’s departure, missing the playoffs in three of four years.
“Bill is tough,” Brady Sr. told the Boston Globe. “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.”
Belichick parted ways with Kraft and the Patriots last month after 24 seasons and now finds himself without a job, having only interviewed with the Falcons, who hired Raheem Morris as their new coach.
Kraft put his trust in Belichick when the coach felt Brady was at the finish line of his career, only to regret seeing Brady win a ring with the Bucs.
The owner admitted to Brady’s family on Sept. 10, when Brady returned to Foxborough to be honored after his retirement, that he erred in allowing Brady to leave.
“He just said, ‘I made a mistake.’ He told us that back in September,” Brady Sr. said of Kraft. “We don’t all make the right decisions, but he’s made a hell of a lot of good ones over the years. But I know that it galls him that Tommy went elsewhere and won. Not that he won, but that he won after Bill said he was done.”