Ex-assistants proving there's only one Belichick

The image of Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels pumping his fist and exhorting the home crowd after a 20-17 overtime victory over the New England Patriots and former boss Bill Belichick on Oct. 11, 2009 is still fresh in the minds of many.

Sadly, the stench that is coming from the Broncos these days is quickly overpowering it.

A little more than a year ago, Denver's dramatic win was part of an eventual 6-0 start for the fresh-faced McDaniels, who was coming off a difficult offseason of following the fired Mike Shanahan and trading away quarterback Jay Cutler(notes).

Since then, the situation has gone decidedly south, following a sadly consistent trend for Belichick's former assistants once they become head coaches. They don't just flop, they do so faster than Tom Cruise's recent flicks.

Over his past 17 games, McDaniels is 4-13 and his team seemed to bottom out in a 59-14 loss to the Oakland Raiders at home last week. Denver fans, once enamored with McDaniels' no-nonsense approach and steely Belichickian resolve, have turned on him. Now, the only thing that may save him is if rookie quarterback Tim Tebow(notes) comes up with a miracle on par with Moses.

Or something like that.

If not, McDaniels figures to join Eric Mangini, Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel and Nick Saban (at least at the NFL level) as members of the Belichick tree who have fallen off it, despite high hopes. To some, the idea of recreating what Belichick has during 11 years in New England seemed possible several years ago. Instead, one after another after another has failed in some significant way.

Saban found success at the college level, winning national championships with both LSU and Alabama. But his two years with Miami in the NFL produced a 15-17 record.

Likewise:

• McDaniels is 10-13 so far.

• Mangini is 30-42 (0-1 in the postseason). He was fired after three years with the New York Jets, including a playoff berth in his first season.

• Crennel was 24-40 in four seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

• Weis was 35-27 in five seasons with Notre Dame, his alma mater. However, he was 16-21 over the final three years, by which time he was working with primarily players he had recruited.

Overall, Belichick's disciples who went to the NFL are 79-112 overall with one playoff appearance

"Really, I'm kind of shocked by it," said former New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi, who worked with Belichick, Mangini and Saban when Belichick was in Cleveland. "I always was of the belief that what Bill did was pick players who fit a certain format, guys who could handle the intellectual side of the game. As long as you had that and they were good enough players, you have a competitive team because the coaching would be strong."

That system has worked for Belichick in New England. So far, there's been a disconnect for most of the guys following in his footsteps.

The Brady Factor

There's only one problem with Accorsi's logic about personnel, as another team executive pointed out.

There's only one Tom Brady(notes).

Unlike Belichick, who pushed aside the talented Drew Bledsoe in favor of Brady, none of the other coaches have found a long-term answer at quarterback – and all of them tried.

McDaniels opted to get rid of Cutler, bring in Kyle Orton(notes) and now has Tebow waiting in the wings, although doubts remain about Tebow's ability. Mangini went through Chad Pennington(notes), Kellen Clemens(notes) and Brett Favre(notes) with the Jets and is on his fifth quarterback in two years with the Browns. Saban failed to find a franchise quarterback with Daunte Culpepper(notes) and then fled to Alabama. Crennel went through Derek Anderson(notes) and Brady Quinn(notes), both of which were inherited by Mangini, in Cleveland.

Weis had success with Quinn at Notre Dame, but then couldn't win with Jimmy Clausen(notes).

A one-man show?

Part of Belichick's greatness is that he is not a one-dimensional coach. In today's NFL, many coaches only run one side of the ball, deferring greatly to offensive and/or defensive coordinators. New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton really runs the offense and gives defensive coordinator Gregg Williams great freedom.

In Dallas, Wade Phillips runs the defense. In San Diego, Norv Turner runs the offense. With the New York Giants, Tom Coughlin began to truly excel when he gave up control of the play-calling on offense. Likewise, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin allows Dick LeBeau to run the defense and Bruce Arians to the run the offense.

In Belichick's case, despite his rich background on defense, he has spent just as much time working with the offense over the years. Currently, the Patriots have neither an offensive nor a defensive coordinator, although Belichick clearly doesn't call every offensive play.

To former Baltimore Ravens coach Brian Billick, this is further proof that New England's success is driven by Belichick's singular ability.

"I think you can equate a lot of it with what Joe Gibbs(notes) did in Washington," Billick said, referring to Gibbs' run of three titles and four Super Bowl appearances in the 1980s. "With Joe, a lot of the guys from his group directly didn't have success. So I think it comes back to Gibbs and Belichick being so special."

By contrast, the varied success of former Bill Walsh disciples (Billick, Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, Jon Gruden and George Seifert and Andy Reid are coaches off the Walsh tree to win or appear in Super Bowls) demonstrates the sustainable success of the Walsh system.

"When you worked for Bill Walsh you had a much more comprehensive understanding of the structure of how you taught, when you installed certain things, how the entire system worked," said Billick, who co-authored Walsh's book "The Winning Edge." "It was much more transferrable. With Gibbs and Belichick, it's not so much a system as it is their singular brilliance as coaches."

Drop the hoodie

With the exception of Crennel, whose affable, low-key personality runs in stark contrast to Belichick's monotone, emotionally guarded veneer, Belichick disciples often appear to be copying Belichick.

For McDaniels, that goes right down to wearing a hooded sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off.

"From sitting down with Eric and observing Josh and the others, you get the feeling that they all want to act like Bill," said Billick, who now works as an NFL game analyst for Fox. "In the Belichick model, you have to be in complete control over everything that happens and that's a difficult task.

"You really have to be yourself, particularly in this profession. You can't try to be someone else. The players see right through it. Plus, you build an expectation when you act like someone else. That's a higher expectation than is already there for any coach. Maybe they're comfortable that way, but at some point, you have to win."