Eh, I'm ok with the new Patriots jerseys, the color rush option wasn't terrible for them. Disappointed to see the current one retired though, it was pretty solid. Will be nice if they can get the red alternate jersey worked in next year, it's essentially what the blue color rush option was based on so it's not much of a stretch to bring back.
I'm of the theory Belichick will be a 8-8, 9-7 coach without Brady and maybe a wild card and out.
Probably about right, but more a function of losing a ton of talent and not because he's overrated without Brady. Unless something crazy happens, it's just gearing up to be a step back and rebuild year. Not an embarrassing tank job like the Manning-less Colts year, but 9-7 or so sounds about right when you lose a HOF QB, some of your OL, and half your defense. Wouldn't put them in the same bucket as Dolphins post-Marino or Bills post-Kelley just yet, they'll be ok.
His crusty demeanour and his next man up plan only work when you are winning championships. Brady dragged a cobbled together offense to at least an AFC Championship Game and you aren't going to get that from a rookie QB or Andy Dalton or whoever else they bring it.
Probably somewhat true, but the 'play smart, be in the right position to do your job, be ready to step up' thing was also part of WHY they won, so hard to say it was just Brady and coaching wasn't a huge part of it. Sometimes it was Brady, and towards the beginning and the end it was Bill putting them in the position to succeed, IMO.
He could've retired or taken on some job in the Patriots front office and gone down as one of the top five coaches in history, but his ego wouldn't let him.
Don't understand what you're saying here at all. Do you think Bill has somehow hurt his legacy and he's slipping out of top 5 coach status? I think his legacy will be just fine, and top 5 is probably even a bit of an understatement. Could make an easy argument that he's #1, but if you aren't making a strong case for him being #1 before you land him at #2 or #3 overall it's hard to take the conversation seriously. Guy has 8 Super Bowl rings, and has appeared in over 20% of all Super Bowls. Something over a third of all of the Super Bowls since he became a defensive coordinator. If you just pick a Super Bowl at random, about a 15% chance (1 in 7) that Belichick was holding a trophy at the end of the game. And almost his entire career was in an era that tried to intentionally prevent those kinds of dynasties, and some of the rules created specifically to try and stop BILL from doing it. Twice as many rings as Chuck Noll, almost 3x as many as Bill Walsh and Joe GIbbs, 4x Lombardi, Landry, and Shula... Shula has him on total regular season wins, but Bill could still catch that in ~5 years if he turns in 9-10 win seasons. I'm sure he's thinking about that number when he figures out how long he wants to coach for, he's 55 off the total right now.
Whatever you think of his demeanor or ego, I think history will be ok with the job he did.
