- 1 week ago
I get it. Neither of these guys is very likable. Still, for over two decades, Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft set the standard for success in football. With six Super Bowls and multiple winning seasons to their name, they’re arguably the greatest head coach-owner tandem in NFL history. It seemed like a pairing that would end only with retirement. Except that’s not the case. Amid internal strife, a battle for control, and disagreements over how to handle the franchise’s greatest player, Tom Brady, the two split in an ugly divorce that was followed by an unforeseen amount of pettiness. Hate to see old men have it out for each other like this, but we got some beef!
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00:00Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft have undoubtedly been the most successful head coach-owner tandem
00:05in NFL history. I could wax poetic about their glory, but six Super Bowl titles and a dynastic
00:11run over two-plus decades says it all. It seemed like a pairing that would only end with retirement.
00:17Except, that ain't the case. Amid internal strife, a battle for control, and disagreements
00:24over how to handle the franchise's greatest player, the two split in an ugly divorce that
00:28was followed by an unforeseen amount of pettiness. Old men shouldn't be beefing like that.
00:35Belichick and Kraft came together under unusual circumstances. As a lifelong Patriots fan,
00:41Kraft smartly positioned himself to take over the team with key investments while catching the
00:46former owner slipping. In 85, he bought a massive piece of land adjacent to the Patriots stadium.
00:52Around the same time, then-owner Billy Sullivan got sunk in poor investments, including offering
00:57the stadium as collateral during a 1984 Jackson 5 tour. Kraft later bought the stadium outright
01:04and backdoored his way into ownership, paying a record amount for the team in 1994.
01:09It's an unconventional way to become a team owner, and the franchise's future head coach didn't land
01:14in New England in a traditional sense either. Before joining the Patriots as head coach, Belichick,
01:20known for his defensive prowess, spent years under his mentor Bill Parcells with the Giants.
01:25He got a chance to be the lead man in Cleveland, but after five largely losing seasons, he found
01:30his way back with Parcells in several stops. One of those stops was a short-standing New England
01:36in 1996. His first go-around in Foxborough lasted only a season before he boated to New York following
01:43Parcells, who had long battled with Kraft over personnel control. After three seasons with the Jets,
01:49Belichick was set to take over as head coach for NY in 2000. That lasted all but a second. Soon
01:56after,
01:57he was named head coach of the Pats. New England had to forego several future draft picks to New York
02:03to land them. Journalists thought the move didn't really add up. However, Kraft had zero doubts and
02:09believed Belichick was the perfect guy for the job. Maybe it was just motivational talk to hype himself up
02:16about the decision because years later, he didn't exactly have the same tune. In 2025, while appearing
02:22on the Dudes on Dudes podcast, Kraft acknowledged that his best decision as owner was hiring Belichick,
02:28but it was a massive gamble. Belichick caught one of those statements and didn't take him lightly.
02:34He later fired back saying he was the one who took a swing on a job many folks in league
02:38circles doubted.
02:41Now, this could just be the two being spiteful post-split, but it suggests the relationship
02:46may have started rocking. When Belichick was initially hired, he didn't seem pressed about
02:51not having full general manager duties. Understanding success comes from a joint effort. His main focus
02:57was instilling a hard-nosed approach to change the organization's culture, an approach he almost
03:02immediately didn't get to see through. In his first season with the Patriots, Belichick looked in over his
03:08head. The following year, the Pats got off to another rough start and Belichick heard serious
03:14rumblings like Kraft was ready to toss him. Two plus decades later, we know that's not the case,
03:19but Belichick wasn't the only one who saved his job. That season in 2001, a relatively unknown backup
03:26quarterback named Tom Brady filled in for an injured Drew Bledsoe and the franchise never looked back.
03:32The trio of Brady, Belichick, and Kraft helped create a dynasty winning three Super Bowls in four
03:39years. The more successful they became, the looser Kraft got. While Belichick occasionally had minor
03:45guardrails, the owner ultimately gave his coach free reign and full control over personnel decisions.
03:50The success kept coming, but Belichick and Kraft didn't always see eye to eye.
03:56During the 07 season, New England got caught up in a league-wide scandal accused of taping other teams'
04:01practices famously known as spy game. The organization was ultimately penalized,
04:06with Belichick and Kraft appearing remorseful. However, while Kraft publicly backed his coach,
04:12he had a different energy behind closed doors. In the 2012 book, Coaching Confidential,
04:18Kraft admitted to feeling foolish defending his coach when the whole situation exploded on the org.
04:23He was furious. Not to the point of firing Belichick, but he felt the drama was all for nothing.
04:29Schmuck is a hell of a pull. That wouldn't be their last scandal together. In 2015, the franchise
04:36again went under investigation, being accused of purposely taking the air out of game balls,
04:41now known as Deflategate. They were penalized the following season, but it did not. They just went
04:47on to win the whole damn thing. Kraft praised Belichick's will to power the team through tough
04:52times. Critics had been on his neck for hiring Belichick, but he felt he had found a life partner in
04:58his coach. The Deflategate issues, however, lingered and exposed some cracks behind the scenes.
05:05While initially adamant about denying the accusations, Belichick went silent,
05:09which the media perceived as a direct slight to his quarterback.
05:13Inside their building, it ultimately left Kraft feeling he had to choose a side.
05:18During the 2017 season, ESPN journalist Seth Wickersham ran a scathing report speculating the
05:24trio was near the end of the run for various reasons. One reason was Belichick removing
05:29Brady's personal trainer, Alex Guerrero, of access to the team without explanation in 2017.
05:36Brady wasn't pleased, to say the least. He gave a lot of credit to the trainer for his ability to
05:41perform at a high level late in his career. Brady planned to play well into his 40s, which
05:47Belichick wasn't having. While Brady served a four-game suspension for Deflategate,
05:52backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo took over a few games and thrived in Brady's absence before
05:57getting injured. Belichick saw his quarterback of the future, sooner rather than later. Kraft
06:03didn't see it that way. Near the 2017 trade deadline, Belichick and Kraft held a contentious meeting
06:10about Garoppolo's place in the org. Just like that, Belichick had to deal Garoppolo to the 49ers,
06:16the coach who'd long had complete control over personnel was left crushed, feeling Kraft had
06:21overstepped. Despite the drama, New England still made it to the Super Bowl. Didn't have the same
06:28results though. The Pats failed to the Philadelphia Eagles in a matchup where Belichick benched the
06:33team's top cornerback without explanation. Belichick felt he didn't have to answer to anyone. He's the
06:39boss, so why respond to underlings? Kraft, the real boss, seemed to have had enough of the
06:46coach's nonchalant demeanor. Entering the 2018 season, Kraft put Belichick on secret probation,
06:52Brady to fire the coach at season's end. After Belichick stripped Brady's trainer
06:56of access the season prior, Kraft went over his coach's head and reinstated those privileges.
07:02For years, Kraft was more than satisfied with Belichick handling the ins and outs of the team.
07:07When he got more involved, Belichick believed the owner had infringed on his territory. Belichick
07:13didn't immediately go after Kraft, but turned frosty on Brady. New England went on to win their
07:18sixth Super Bowl anyway, holding a high-powered Los Angeles Rams offense to just three total points.
07:24Belichick's defense, not Brady's arm, won them the ring. In a season that began with Kraft ready to
07:30cut Belichick loose, he changed his mind as the coach proved he still had some juice,
07:35even as his own name got dragged through a solicitation scandal not long after winning the ship.
07:40Kraft, faced with his own shame, now had to lead the franchise through a massive transition.
07:47Despite a subpar Super Bowl performance,
07:49Brady had no plans to retire and sought a major extension.
07:53Kraft had drawn a line in the sand on Brady's side before. This time was different. Belichick
07:59had gotten to Kraft. He convinced the owner the team would be better off starting fresh.
08:04Belichick had just won the Super Bowl with his excellent defensive scheme.
08:07Kraft switched up and sided with his coach. This, of course, led to more tension,
08:14but unlike in the past, New England couldn't turn their drama into fuel.
08:18They were bouncing the wild card round. In that offseason, Brady found a new home in Tampa,
08:24then went on to win the Super Bowl in his first season as a buck.
08:28Meanwhile, New England posted his first losing season since Belichick took over in 2000.
08:33The following year, the franchise drafted Mac Jones, who seemed like Brady's heir apparent.
08:39They were right back in the mix, except it was all a mirage.
08:44Years of previous poor Belichick personnel decisions caught up with the franchise and Jones turned into a pumpkin.
08:50They crashed quickly and ultimately hit rock bottom with a miserable 4-13 season in 2023.
08:56Kraft, who already inserted himself in the day-to-day operations, doubled down by adding his son to the fold.
09:03Nothing better than some good old nepotism to further stir the pot.
09:07The owner wasn't shy about making it clear he wanted Belichick gone.
09:11The coach had grown irritated with Kraft for naming Gerard Mayo as the next man up.
09:16Belichick's sweet, sweet, full control was slipping.
09:20In January 2024, the partnership ended. The two held a joint press conference, embraced, and called it a mutual decision.
09:29If they hadn't gone at each other's throats after that, maybe that would have been believable.
09:34The first sign of contention came through Kraft blackballing Belichick in league circles.
09:39As a new coach for hire, Belichick found himself deep in the running for the Atlanta Falcons job, but Kraft
09:45got slimy.
09:46He called Atlanta owner Arthur Blank and spilled that Belichick was an insufferable pain to work with.
09:52Despite Belichick reportedly being the favorite, Atlanta went another direction.
09:57That's a move done in the shadows, but Kraft wanted the world to know his dislike for Belichick ran deep.
10:03Early in 2024, the Patriots released a 10-part documentary produced by Kraft
10:08that seemed to focus far more on Belichick's trouble than their team's success.
10:13It felt like a hit piece.
10:14Even former Patriots players thought it was a bit too messy.
10:18Belichick later compared it more to a roast than an actual documentary.
10:22Which, speaking of, the two had it out for one another at an actual roast.
10:27During Netflix's taping of the roast of Tom Brady, the two seemed cordial on screen,
10:32but when the cameras weren't rolling, it wasn't all lovey-dovey.
10:36Former Patriots players in attendance said the energy between the two was hostile in the green room.
10:40The tension was unavoidable.
10:43As the 2024 season ramped up, Kraft revealed he planned to make Mayo head coach five years earlier.
10:49He dropped that nugget completely unprovoked.
10:52Seems like he wanted Belichick gone long before their quote-unquote mutual split.
10:57It felt like a scorned divorcee going after their ex-partner.
11:01Then, he went even deeper.
11:03During an October 2024 appearance on The Breakfast Club, Kraft admitted he fired Belichick.
11:09He felt he only had himself to blame for not reining in Belichick's control sooner.
11:14When the losses started piling up, he knew it was time to get Belichick up out of there.
11:19Belichick, who mostly stayed quiet, seemed to have moved on.
11:22The long-time NFL coach took a job and transitioned to the college game.
11:27In April 2025, Belichick released a lengthy 300-page book,
11:31The Art of Winning, that didn't mention Kraft once.
11:34Asked why on CBS, Belichick gave a half-assed answer,
11:38saying the book was about his own lessons, not anyone else's.
11:42Which, I guess makes sense, but when pressed on Kraft's fired claim,
11:48Belichick insisted the decision was mutual.
11:51Neither really seemed that trustworthy, but you can only poke at a man's ego for so long.
11:57A month later, Kraft dropped the big risk comment,
12:00and it seemed to light a fuse within Belichick as the coach sank further into pettiness.
12:05Speaking to the Boston Globe in August 2025 about a variety of topics,
12:09including the difference between coaching in college versus the pros,
12:13Belichick put it plainly, there is no owner and no owner's son.
12:17His best years in New England were the ones without outsiders meddling in his business.
12:23For a guy who famously spent his years avoiding soundbites to limit distractions,
12:28he seemed fine lighting up his former employer.
12:31Kraft didn't retaliate. Instead, he announced plans to build a Belichick statue at Gillette Stadium
12:37next to Brady's. It seemed like an olive branch.
12:40Belichick grabbed that branch, snapped it over his leg, and gave Kraft and the Patriots a big
12:46fuck you back.
12:48Before the 2025 collegiate season, Belichick reportedly banned New England scouts from visiting
12:53UNC practices, the only team without access. A power move that arguably hurt his own player's
12:59draft stock, but pettiness knows no bounds. Belichick didn't feel welcome within their building,
13:05so why should they be allowed on his new turf? However, New Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel refuted
13:11that, saying Belichick could come by anytime. Which, stay out of old folks' business. This ain't
13:16about you, Vrabel. It seems like a level of animosity that the two are prepared to take to the grave.
13:22At least, for now. Both men are eligible for the Hall of Fame, and after Belichick was snubbed from
13:27the class of 2026, Kraft was among the loudest defending him. They had their issues, but Kraft seems to be
13:33coming around to acknowledging Belichick's greatness again. Although, he often speaks of his regret
13:39over picking Belichick over Brady when he did. There could still be a storybook ending here,
13:44but right now, what we've got is one of the greatest pairings in NFL history dying in a nasty
13:50spat over control, power, and a whole lot of beef.