New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick understands better than most the massive impact Romeo Crennel made during his NFL coaching career.
Belichick has an immense amount of respect for Crennel and had high praise at Tuesday’s mandatory minicamp practice for his former colleague, as the 74-year-old Crennel announced his retirement from coaching on Monday after four decades in the NFL.
Crennel had two separate four-year stints with the Patriots, his first coming as a defensive line coach from 1993-96. Crennel then came back in 2001, serving as Belichick’s defensive coordinator on three Super Bowl winning teams.
Belichick and Crennel’s relationship dates further back than their time together in New England. The two also spent 10 years together in the 1980s as assistants on the New York Giants coaching staff.
“A big congratulations to Romeo on his great career, saw the retirement yesterday and certainly he had a great influence here and many other places where I worked with him,” Belichick said. “Contributions to the National Football League in so many ways and he mentored so many other young coaches, not to mention hundreds and hundreds of players, just really a first-class guy.
“In his two stints here, he achieved a lot of success. Certainly we, and I personally, owe a huge debt of gratitude to Romeo for what he did for me, what he did for our football team, and the success that we had with him here, but also on a personal level with the Giants.”
Crennel’s long coaching career also landed him with the New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans. Last season, Crennel served as a senior advisor for the Texans after being the team’s head coach for 12 games during the 2020 season.
Belichick’s friendship with Crennel obviously goes back decades, as Belichick also recalled the frequent racquetball matches over the years that pitted him against Crennel.
“Quite a few. It’s got to be up there in the triple figures,” Belichick said. “Same with Bill Parcells. Played a lot of racquetball.”
