By John Romano
Tampa Bay Times
The music has ended, and the revelers have been told to go home. The champagne has presumably been mopped up, and the Super Bowl ring designer is now on the clock.
Do you suppose Bill Belichick is smiling yet?
That’s got to be the lasting image of the NFL of the early 21st century, right? The Patriots coach on the sideline, all business and no bluster. Some coaches scream, some cheer and some pat fannies.
Bill Belichick? He just wins.
And, as of Super Bowl LIII, as well as any coach ever has.
Sunday’s 13-3 victory over the Rams was Belichick’s sixth championship as head coach in New England. That ties him with Curly Lambeau and George Halas for the most titles in NFL history. And if we’re talking about the Super Bowl era, Belichick has twice as many titles as anyone except for Chuck Noll’s four.
The Patriots have appeared in nine Super Bowls in 18 years, winning six and losing the other three by an average of five points.
Some might call that a dynasty, but I think it’s more like a patriarchy. It’s Papa Bill and a cast of hundreds.
Think about it. Other than Tom Brady, who has been there from the beginning, what individual players are synonymous with Belichick’s tenure? There have been some great ones, no doubt. And a few have stuck around longer than others. But you think of the Pats as a corporation and not a constellation.
This is not Pittsburgh of the ’70s. There were 22 Steelers who were around for all four of their Super Bowl victories. And it’s not San Francisco of the ’80s. There are six 49ers with four Super Bowl rings.
But in New England, no Patriot besides Brady has more than three rings.
And that suggests Belichick may have had an outsized share of influence with this nearly two-decade run of success. In a day of expanded playoffs, salary caps and free agency, he’s the metronome of coaches.
Here’s another way of looking at it:
New England’s offense has been either first or second in the NFL in points scored in four seasons (2007, ‘10, ‘12, ‘17) during Belichick’s tenure. And the defense has been either first or second in fewest points allowed in four other seasons (2003, ‘04, ‘06, ‘16).
Take a moment to consider what that means. He may have made his name as a defensive coordinator for Bill Parcells’ teams in New York, but Belichick has never limited himself to one style of football.
Belichick has won no matter kind of teams he has had, and no matter what the latest trend was in the league. He has had a team that averaged 37 points a game, and a team that held opponents to less than 15 points a game.
The one constant is winning. And frowning.
The world has known plenty of stone-faced coaches, from Vince Lombardi to Don Shula to Parcells. But even those guys had a glint of personality hiding behind the grimness.
With Belichick there is no mask to remove. There are no distractions to get in the way. He shows up early, stays late and if he has to bend a rule or two to get an edge, he’ll worry about apologizing later.
In some ways, his absence of charm has diminished his legend. How many cool anecdotes do you recall about Belichick? How many great quotes will live beyond his career? He was not as humorous as John Madden or as cerebral as Bill Walsh.
For a lot of people, Belichick was Darth Vader under a hoodie. The guy who stood on Brady’s shoulders. The guy who seemed to irritate every NFL fan not waving a Patriots banner.
But today, at 66, he is something different.
He is the oldest coach ever to win a Super Bowl. He is the first coach born in the 20th century to win six NFL titles. Now he can legitimately make a case as the greatest coach in NFL history.
Perhaps he’ll even smile.
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