“If you take away Tom Brady, do you know who he is?” – LeSean McCoy claims Bill Belichick is a bang-average coach without Buccaneers star
LeSean McCoy has waded into the Tom Brady Bill Belichick debate. When those two parted ways after two decades together in 2019, it opened up an interesting question: who was more responsible for their success?
It initially appeared as if the quarterback played a bigger role, since he immediately went on to win the Super Bowl in his first year with Tampa Bay.
There are a lot of facets of the debate to consider, but McCoy, who played with the quarterback briefly in Tampa, isn't hearing any of it.
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Shady added:
“If you take away Tom Brady, do you know who he is? He’s under .500. That’s who he is. … Now that he doesn’t have Tom Brady, he’s like all the other good coaches. The Marvin Lewis’. The Rex Ryans’.”
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McCoy said:
“If you take away Tom Brady, do you know who he is? He’s under .500. That’s who he is. … Now that he doesn’t have Tom Brady, he’s like all the other good coaches. The Marvin Lewis’. The Rex Ryans’.”
He also added:
"I think he is a good coach. All 'the greatest' and 'we've never seen anything like him,' that's bullcrap."
Many praise Belichick for being the greatest coach of all time, largely due to his six Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.
However, in three seasons after Brady left, he finished slightly under .500, made the playoffs and is currently sitting in last place in the AFC East, albeit at 5-4.
McCoy believes that, and his struggles before coaching in New England and before Brady came along, is more indicative of his coaching ability than six Super Bowls would suggest.
What is Bill Belichick's career record?
Recently, the Patriots coach became the second-winningest coach in NFL history. His 326th victory put him in second place all time, just behind Don Shula. In total, his record is a sterling 326-160, which includes the playoffs, where he is 31-13.
To McCoy's credit, that record is much worse without Brady. He's slightly below .500 at 36-38 in Patriots games he's coached without the future Hall of Famer.
In total, he's 76-83 without Brady, so McCoy's point isn't totally invalid. There are a lot of reasons why that might be, but the statement that Belichick wins a lot less without Brady is true.