Wile E Belichick, Super Genius

Bill Parcells never won a Super Bowl or Conference championship without Bill Belichick at his side running the defense. Many in the NFL whisper that it was really Belichick who gave Parcells the trophies, not the other way around, especially after Belichick won three on his own with the Patriots. Belichick never disputed the whispers. Perhaps he believes them.

In the NFL they keep records. Let's look at Wile E's head coaching record:

Overall: 144 - 86 - 0

That is genius territory, alright. Brilliant.

But let's break it out:

First HC job:
Cleveland: 36 - 44 (wince)

Humans usually hit their IQ peak before the age of 39 when Belichick took the job. What happened? Well, Cleveland has been bad for years; maybe it wasn't his fault.

Second and current HC job:
New England:
2000: 5 - 11 (Huh?)
2001: First two games: 0 - 2 (What?)
2008: Last game: 0 - 1 (a blowout loss at home to a team that won one game in 2007? How can this be?)

So, in these games the Genius has 41 wins and 58 losses for a 0.414 winning percentage.

Four-fourteen? Genius? Belichick said his most embarrassing moment in the NFL was when the Giants passed him over for the head coaching job and gave it to Ray Handley. Handley, was run out of town after two years, but even he could muster a 14 - 18 record for a 0.438 winning percentage. Rich Kotite had a 41 win and 57 loss record (0.418) as head coach of the Eagles and Jets. Kotite is considered one of the worst coaches in NFL history.

You think I am being unfair to Belichick for selecting certain games out of specific seasons? You must have guessed the significance by now.

Without Tom Brady at QB: 41 - 58 (0.414)
All other games 1991 through 2008: 103 - 28 - 0 ( 0.786)

With Tom Brady at quarterback, Belichick is a genius Hall of Fame coach.

Without Tom Brady at quarterback, Belichick is Lloyd Christmas; he's worse than Ray Handley and Rich Kotite.

That's enough of the Hall of Fame talk; enough of the genius label.