How have Bill Belichick's former assistant coaches performed as HCs in the NFL?
Bill Belichick is arguably the best head coach in NFL history. That means teams all around the NFL are trying to replicate his success and find his successor. Naturally, several teams love to pluck coaches from his coaching tree.
But it has not always led to great results. In fact, there is a trend of former Belichick assistants struggling when they become head coaches themselves.
Bill Belichick's coaching tree over the years:
Joe Judge, NYG: 2 years
Brian Flores, MIA: 3 years
Matt Patricia, DET: 3 years
Bill O'Brien, HOU: 7 years
Josh McDaniels, DEN: 2 years
Romeo Crennel, CLE: 4 years
Eric Mangini, NYJ, CLE: 3 years, 2 years
Nick Saban, MIA: 2 years
Joe Judge and Brian Flores were the latest Belichick disciples to be fired as head coaches elsewhere. Judge had two losing seasons with the New York Giants and his team, suffering a total collapse to end the 2021 campaign that lost him his job. Flores' firing was a bit more controversial, as relationship-building, or lack thereof, doomed him with the Miami Dolphins.
So out of those two, Flores had at least some success on the field. How have others from the Belichick tree fared?
Notable members of the Bill Belichick NFL coaching tree
Perhaps the most interesting name involved is that of Nick Saban. He is known as one of the greatest college football coaches ever because of his time spent with LSU and Alabama.
But in between those stints came a job in the NFL with the Dolphins. Saban did go 15-17 in two seasons, but was clearly at a loss for how to manage NFL talent. Luckily for him, he jumped into the job in Alabama and the rest is history.
Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini are two former Belichick assistants who showed promise, but just could not stick. The former had one winning season with the Cleveland Browns, while the latter took the New York Jets to the postseason on one occasion. Apart from that, a lot of losing was involved for both men.
Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels are the two most notable names among those who struggled mightily when leaving Belichick's side. Patricia got the Detroit Lions job in 2018 and showed up ready to instill a tough culture and environment. But no one seemed to buy in and he was fired in 2020 after putting together a 13-29-1 record. Dan Campbell is the complete opposite of Patricia and the Lions seem to enjoy the change.
McDaniels got the Denver Broncos head coaching job early in his 30s, and it did not go well. He went 8-8 in his first year after a 6-0 start, only to be fired in his second year after a 3-9 start. He then spent a year in St. Louis before heading back to New England.
Former long-time @Broncos starting LB @DjWilliam55 opened up about the Josh McDaniels era in Denver on the @IAMATHLETEpod
"We started 6-0." - "We lose to San Francisco, our film guy got caught filming their practice."
"WE WAS CHEATING!"
https://t.co/Y1V7QgH21r
The only one with any real success on a long-term basis was Bill O'Brien. He took the Houston Texans to the playoffs four times and had a 52-48 record in the regular season. His reputation was only marred because of his final year in Houston, where he made some bad personnel moves as GM before getting fired after an 0-4 start.