Despite North Carolina being a disaster on the field and an even bigger embarrassment off of it, Bill Simmons believes there’s nothing Bill Belichick can do in Chapel Hill to harm his legacy.
Well, almost nothing.
“Nothing that happens to him at North Carolina, short of him pulling his pants down and tweaking on fentanyl on the sidelines during an ACC game, is going to change everything he did when he was at the Patriots and all the stuff he did in the NFL,” The Ringer founder said on the latest episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast. “It doesn’t really matter.”
By his own admission, Simmons is biased, considering he spent two decades rooting for Belichick during the glory days of the Patriots dynasty. Still, he views the entire conversation regarding the 6-time Super Bowl champion head coach’s legacy as evidence that sports media isn’t able to properly contextualize such matters, even if it’s something that he’s been occasionally guilty of himself.
“I’m not saying I’m innocent. I’ve certainly brought it up a few times. But it’s ‘legacy, legacy, legacy. What is this gonna mean for his legacy?’ We don’t even understand how to talk about legacy,” Simmons said. “Think about some of the great players, coaches we’ve had over the last hundred-plus years of professional sports. Did it matter how the end happened for a lot of them?
“Do you care that Babe Ruth played for the Boston Braves? Do you care that Vince Lombardi coached the Washington Redskins? Do you care that Michael Jordan played for the Washington Wizards for two years and didn’t make the playoffs either year? Can you name all the teams Wayne Gretzky played for in hockey after the Oilers and after the Kings?… This happens over and over again.”
Unsurprisingly, Simmons is especially annoyed about any attempt to diminish Belichick’s accomplishments in New England. Particularly when it comes to the notion that the 73-year-old’s recent failures are evidence that Tom Brady was more responsible for the Patriots’ six Super Bowl titles than the 3-time NFL Coach of the Year was.
“That’s another stupid take I’ve seen: Well, since he’s doing badly at North Carolina, maybe we have to reassess Brady’s involvement in the Super Bowls.’ No, we don’t. We don’t have to reassess anything,” Simmons said. “The first three Super Bowls, Belichick was probably a little more responsible. The second three, Brady was probably a little more responsible. But they needed each other the whole time…. to say one deserved more credit than the other is just typical of sports media talk bullsh*t that we do.”
Simmons’ comments come amid a week in which multiple reports have indicated that North Carolina and Belichick are already eyeing a potential breakup following a 2-3 start to his tenure as the Tar Heels’ head coach, which has included no shortage of off-field drama. While the head coach and athletic department have each since issued statements expressing their commitment to one another, even Simmons admitted he thinks it’s unlikely the Belichick era in Chapel Hill will see a second season.
As for his legacy, the Sports Guy isn’t wrong when he says that we can often be prisoners of the moment with such conversations. Still, that hasn’t made Belichick’s first 10 months as a college head coach any less bizarre, even if it will ultimately be a footnote in his career.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.