How The Brady-Belichick Split Could Lead To A Reunion
It was the most talked-about breakup since Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s highly publicized “de-coupling.” After nearly two decades and six Super Bowl Championship rings with the New England Patriots and longtime head coach Bill Belichick, quarterback Tom Brady left Boston’s trademark chowder in favor of stone crabs, key lime pie, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. For the record, I live in Florida and have tasted my fair share of key lime pie—it’s quite the delectable recruiting pitch. But football fans nationwide questioned the split and then speculated over which party would find success and which would fall flat.
I’m excited for Week Two of NFL kickoffs because we get our second opportunity to sharpen our thoughts about the leadership lessons to learn as this Brady-Belichick saga plays out. Should we be more concerned with the Brady-less Patriots or with the Belicheck-less Brady? Their respective season openers resulted in Belichick’s Patriots finding victory without its longtime on-field leader, while Brady struggled to find chemistry with his new partners in a loss to New Orleans. My immediate reaction after taking the time to watch and study both games is that the bigger leadership challenge will be Brady’s.
Brady was like the top salesman and proven leader at a company that crushed numbers, smashed quotas, and made the shareholders quite happy for 20 years. But now Brady has an extensive work history and is an overqualified new hire starting an onboarding process drastically different from anything he’s previously experienced. Simply put, TB-12 could not bring his trusted New England Patriots playbook with him, nor could he bring his reliable offensive linemen along for the change of scenery. Those two variables create quite the learning curve for a guaranteed Hall of Famer who’s taught so many leadership lessons in his career.
Brady’s challenge is the same one that plagued Tampa Bay quarterbacks of years past. His predecessor, Jameis Winston, was once regarded as the blueprint for the franchise’s return to winning football. However, it’s hard to build success when the blueprint keeps getting stepped on. Winston was sacked 169 times in his five years with the Bucs—including 47 times last season. At age 43, Brady will not find success if his new offensive line maintains old standards of performance. That’s not something that just happens overnight; you must build the type of team chemistry needed to truly protect a prized player like Brady. The grass may be greener in Tampa, but so far there seems to be less coverage.
As for Belichick, he didn’t wait by the phone for Brady to offer a change of heart. He’s the CEO of the company that led the marketplace, dominated most of the competition, and had a culture in place that couldn’t have been more ready for such a pivot. His leadership created a cast of role players who bought into the team-first mindset and experienced championship results. That’s why when Brady left, and the sports world began writing them off, the Patriots adjusted.
The biggest Patriots pivot is dual-threat quarterback and former league MVP Cam Newton—acquired at a bargain price as a free agent after the Carolina Panthers released him in a leadership overhaul. Whereas Brady’s burden was the number of things he needed to learn in his new setting, Belichick’s leadership burden was determining how best to adjust his current business model to highlight the strengths of his new talent. In last weekend’s game, the Patriots ran the ball on 65 percent of their offensive snaps and Newton scored two rushing touchdowns in the victory. In contrast, Brady’s had two rushing touchdowns just twice in his last nine seasons with the Patriots.
Brady was like the top salesman and proven leader at a company that crushed numbers, smashed quotas, and made the shareholders quite happy for 20 years. But now Brady has an extensive work history and is an overqualified new hire starting an onboarding process drastically different from anything he’s previously experienced. Simply put, TB-12 could not bring his trusted New England Patriots playbook with him, nor could he bring his reliable offensive linemen along for the change of scenery. Those two variables create quite the learning curve for a guaranteed Hall of Famer who’s taught so many leadership lessons in his career.
Brady’s challenge is the same one that plagued Tampa Bay quarterbacks of years past. His predecessor, Jameis Winston, was once regarded as the blueprint for the franchise’s return to winning football. However, it’s hard to build success when the blueprint keeps getting stepped on. Winston was sacked 169 times in his five years with the Bucs—including 47 times last season. At age 43, Brady will not find success if his new offensive line maintains old standards of performance. That’s not something that just happens overnight; you must build the type of team chemistry needed to truly protect a prized player like Brady. The grass may be greener in Tampa, but so far there seems to be less coverage.
As for Belichick, he didn’t wait by the phone for Brady to offer a change of heart. He’s the CEO of the company that led the marketplace, dominated most of the competition, and had a culture in place that couldn’t have been more ready for such a pivot. His leadership created a cast of role players who bought into the team-first mindset and experienced championship results. That’s why when Brady left, and the sports world began writing them off, the Patriots adjusted.
The biggest Patriots pivot is dual-threat quarterback and former league MVP Cam Newton—acquired at a bargain price as a free agent after the Carolina Panthers released him in a leadership overhaul. Whereas Brady’s burden was the number of things he needed to learn in his new setting, Belichick’s leadership burden was determining how best to adjust his current business model to highlight the strengths of his new talent. In last weekend’s game, the Patriots ran the ball on 65 percent of their offensive snaps and Newton scored two rushing touchdowns in the victory. In contrast, Brady’s had two rushing touchdowns just twice in his last nine seasons with the Patriots.
We often think that when a star player leaves, the void becomes too much to bear for the team left behind. That’s not the case in New England where Belichick has proven his adjustments still kept the wins rolling in—think back to 2008 when Brady’s season-ending knee injury opened the door for success in quarterback Matt Cassell. Or consider the 2016 deflate-gate year where Brady served a four-game suspension and quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett managed a 3-1 start for what would become a Super Bowl championship season.
On all teams, you have two categories: Patriots and Mercenaries. The Patriots remain loyal no matter what. The Mercenaries chase the treasure. For 19 seasons, Brady was a Patriot in every sense of the word. As we enter another highly anticipated week of games, it will be interesting to “win” this saga. Will Brady’s decision to sail the NFL waters hunting for treasure in the NFC South continue to encounter rocky seas while Belichick has decided to repurpose a forgotten gem? Or might they reverse roles this week? Most importantly, could the two meet again in the Super Bowl?
And while we’re debating the drama: Did Brad or Angelina have the better post-divorce career?