Alan Truex: With constant tinkering, Belichick keeps a dynasty going

Updated Wednesday, January 16, 2019

This was supposed to be the season in which the New England Patriots retreat toward the middle of the NFL pack.  

Surely Tom Brady, greatest QB ever, could not keep snubbing Father Time at 41.

Could Rob Gronkowski, the greatest tight end ever, do it at 29?

Brady and Gronk both were hinting at needing relief from oppressive coach Bill Belichick, five rings and all.

Brady’s wife complains of his headaches and concussions, and Belichick makes no effort to keep his bodyguard.  Left tackle Nate Solder is one reason why the quarterback can be so active at 41.

Another reason for his unique longevity: the nourishment and muscle-training of his fashionable body.  So, Belichick put up barriers against Brady’s fitness guru, Alex Guerrero.

There also were fissures in the locker room because Belichick had no use for Malcolm Butler in the Super Bowl, after he’d led the defense in snaps played.

Besides the dissension issues, NFL talent evaluators pointed to skill deficiency at most positions.  The Pats were below average in speed even before they traded their fastest and most productive wide receiver, Brandin Cooks, to the Los Angeles Rams for future draft considerations.

“You just don’t see the talent they’ve had all the other years,” lamented Chris Simms, former assistant to Belichick.

So here they are, packing their bags, making arrangements for their eighth consecutive conference title game.  

The cynics were not entirely wrong: Brady isn’t quite what he was when he led that miraculous fourth-quarter comeback in the Super Bowl of two years back.  And there will be much written this week about how inferior the fading Gronk is to his counterpart in the penultimate game, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce.

But as always, Belichick emerges as smarter than everybody else.  And less obnoxious than usual, finally comfortable at 66 in his own skin and hoodie.  

He’s smiling at press conferences and giving thoughtful insights about players.  This is from the man whose former boss, New York Giants coach Bill Parcells, called “Doom.”

In a Tuesday conference call to hype Sunday’s AFC title game in Kansas City, Belichick was asked, “Can you coach against Tyreek Hill’s speed?”

“Coach against it?  Like, can we make someone that fast?”

In prior years, he would have delivered the sarcastic barb and nothing more.  But the new Belichick is expansive: “We’ve seen that speed; a lot of our players have dealt with it.  You have to make those subtle adjustments in terms of angles and leverage, look at every situation, who’s where and how fast everyone’s moving in all directions.”

No sparkling nuggets there, but they give us hope that we won’t hear any more On-to-Cincinnatis.

But more importantly, Belichick has proved accurate in his evaluations and shrewd in his personnel maneuvers.  He’s arguably the only NFL head coach since Parcells who’s been successful in expanding his job to include managing the roster.

Belichick maintains a dynasty because he’s always balancing the present with the future.  

Consider Solder, who jumped to the Giants for four years at an average salary of $15.5 million.  He’s 30, probably at or near the end of his athletic prime. Pro Football Focus ranked him 21st among NFL offensive tackles this season — good, but not in terms of value.

Belichick replaced Solder with 25-year-old Trent Brown, at $1.9 million salary.  The Patriots gave up a late third-round draft pick to acquire Brown and a fifth-rounder from San Francisco.

Brown is not as good as Solder — ranked 44th by PFF — but Belichick gets salary-cap money to upgrade other positions.

As for Butler: After signing a 5-year contract for $61 million, he’s maligned in Tennessee for loose coverage.  PFF ranks him among the worst starting corners.

As for Cooks: he frustrated Brady, a ball-control specialist, with errant routes.  Belichick refused to pay an $8.5 million salary for a receiver who causes picks.

In search of outside speed to replace Cooks, Belichick plucked the fast but troubled Josh Gordon off the scrap heap.  Gordon played well – 41 catches, 4 TDs in 10 games – before he returned to drug rehab. His departure was supposed to curtail New England’s ground game.  Without fear of being beaten deep, defenses would stack the box.

So what happened?  In the three games since Gordon left – replaced by nobody fast – the Patriots have averaged 186.3 yards rushing, at 5.0 per carry.

Belichick’s greatness – besides his defensive scheming — is his ability to adapt and adjust.  People who say he can’t win without Brady forget that he once went 11-5 with Matt Cassel quarterbacking.  Belichick’s offense, as detailed by coordinator Josh McDaniels, is multidimensional and constantly changing.  

My feeling is the Patriots will remain competitive in the Super Bowl business regardless of who leaves, as long as it’s not Bill Belichick.