Tom Brady Sr.: Bill Belichick is a great coach with horrible interpersonal skills
The father of Tom Brady has weighed in on why Bill Belichick appears set to get shut out of head-coaching jobs in 2024.
Tom Brady Sr. told the Boston Globe that Belichick's personal skills aren't good enough to reach modern NFL players.
“Bill is tough," said Brady Sr. “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."
Brady Sr. says that Patriots owner Robert Kraft knows he bet on the wrong horse when he listened to Belichick's evaluation of an aging player and let Brady Jr. leave New England for Tampa Bay. Brady Sr. said that when the Brady family went to the Patriots' 2023 season opener, Kraft approached them and told them he should have let Brady finish his career anywhere but New England.
“He just said, 'I made a mistake.' He told us that back in September," relayed Brady Sr. “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."
Brady Jr. issued a gracious statement about Belichick this month, but Brady Sr. may be relaying some feelings that Brady Jr. has only shared privately about Belichick, a coach who has a career losing record without Brady.
