How Bad is Bill Belichick’s Coaching Tree?

It seems like leaving the New England Patriots organization for a head coaching job isn’t as easy as Bill Belichick makes it look.

As the Raiders are now learning, be cautious of who you select from Belichick’s coaching tree. Josh McDaniels is the latest Belichick disciple to crash and burn as an NFL head coach. After a 2-7 start with the Raiders, McDaniels has been under heat from fans for the team’s poor performance.

However, McDaniels isn’t the first head coach from Belichick’s coaching tree to flop during their stints on the sideline.

Matt Patricia and Joe Judge were among the most recent coaching casualties. Meanwhile, Eric Mangini, Romeo Crennel and others have also failed to make a mark as NFL head coaches. .

Head Coaches under Bill Belichick Under Perform

Belichick is a legendary head coach who worked directly under Bill Parcels, but his predecessors are flopping every time it’s their turn to call the shots.

Not one of his proteges has led their team to the Super Bowl. In fact, Belichick has more regular season NFL wins than his entire coaching tree combined.

McDaniels is the prime example this season. He owns a career 13-24 overall record as an NFL head coach. Matt Patricia and Joe Judge have just returned to New England after being let go from the Detroit Lions and New York Giants.

Judge went 10-23 as the head coach of the New York Giants while Patricia finished 13-29-1 with the Lions before getting fired.

Jeff Saturday beating Josh McDaniels proves that the only thing worse than hiring with absolutely zero coaching experience is hiring someone with experience coaching under Bill Belichick

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) November 14, 2022

Why are head coaches failing after leaving Belichick’s system?

Belichik coined ‘The Patriot Way’ in New England, where players focus on doing their own jobs and if that’s taken care of, the wins will start rolling in.

After so much success in New England, many coaches try to mimic the same system. While it works in New England, that system doesn’t fit every franchise.

Many coaches from Belichick’s tree have also been placed in difficult situations. Other than McDaniels, many coaches have ended up with some of the league’s worst teams..

Belichick makes winning and being a head coach look easy.

While the Patriots’ coach is a football mastermind, his former colleagues haven’t quite been up to the task.

There are certain intangibles that coaches need to have and several of Belichick’s assistants have failed to recreate a winning culture in other franchises, so perhaps he deserves even more of the credit than he’s given for New England’s sustained success.