Shannon Sharpe implies Bill Belichick’s legacy merits an asterisk

“[His legacy] deserves to take a hit,” Sharpe said on Monday’s episode of “First Take.” “I’ve been one of those guys that said that Coach Belichick deserved a lot more of the credit than Tom Brady, but I was foolish in my assessment of this. It’s becoming more and more apparent to me that Tom Brady was largely the reason why the Patriots won. He goes to another team, they win. Coach Belichick has struggled to win without Tom Brady.”

In 18 seasons with Brady as his QB, Belichick compiled a 291-64 record while winning six Super Bowl championships, 17 division championships and three AP NFL Coach of the Year awards.

But following Brady’s departure after the 2019 season, Belichick has just one winning season and one playoff appearance in three years, and the Pats are 1-3 to start this season. Belichick won fewer than 10 games just once with Brady but has done so twice in three years without him.

Conversely, Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the playoffs in each of his three seasons with the team, winning a Super Bowl in his first season with them in 2020. Brady’s win percentage without Belichick is 64; Belichick’s without Brady is 48.1.

“Belichick said I’m going to go win [a Super Bowl] without you; out the door you go,” Sharpe added. “…Coach Belichick wanted to leave no doubt in anybody’s mind that ‘The Patriot Way’… [is] because of me.’ But what he failed to realize is that he had that general, that 17-star general in Tom Brady that made everything smooth. And he’s finding out the hard way, it’s not as easy as he ever thought it would be.”