The divorce between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft has only gotten uglier since the two split after the 2023 season.
Belichick’s latest comments to The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin are the newest example.
When asked about the biggest differences between coaching in the NFL and college, the new UNC coach took what appeared to be a subtle shot at the Patriots owner.
“It’s a much more cohesive, and I’d say unified, view of what we’re trying to do and how we’re trying to do it,” Belichick told Volin, speaking about the differences between coaching in the NFL vs. college. “It’s a lot of football, and there’s not much in your way.
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son,” he continued. “There’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that. But it’s way less of what it was at that level.”
Of course, this wasn’t the first time either Belichick or Kraft had used the media to make their feelings known about one another. Whether it was through The Dynasty documentary on Apple TV or other outlets, the bottom line comes down to who deserves the most credit for the Patriots dynasty.
SI’s Albert Breer said the situation is now reaching the levels of Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones with the Dallas Cowboys back in the mid-90s.
“But on the Kraft–Belichick dynamic, the obvious problem here is how credit is assigned for the unprecedented two-decade run the Patriots had together,” Breer wrote. “Belichick saw the Kraft-fueled Apple TV series, The Dynasty, as an effort to ensure Kraft got more than the coach, particularly after players said positive things they’d said about Belichick weren’t included in the final edit. And since he’s been sensitive toward a lot of comments Robert Kraft has made about the two-decade run (Kraft’s Hall of Fame candidacy is a factor in all this, too).”
Breer’s biggest concern about the situation comes down to their age. Belichick is 73 and Kraft is 84, meaning there could be little time left to reconcile if not done soon.
“…These guys are a lot older than Jerry and Jimmy were at the time of their split, meaning that (not to get dark here) they have less time to figure it out than the architects of the Dallas dynasty did,” Breer continued.
“And it’d be a shame if this doesn’t get fixed in their lifetime.”