With Tom Brady no longer in New England, LeSean McCoy believes we're finally seeing what Bill Belichick truly is.
McCoy and Kay Adams were talking NFL coaching on a recent episode of the "Up & Adams" show when the latter called Belichick a "legend" who deserves credit for the Patriots turning things around after residing under .500 for most of the first half of the season. The comment struck a chord with McCoy, who explained why he doesn't view Belichick as unequivocally the greatest NFL coach of all time.
"I mean, he's had Tom Brady," McCoy told Adams. "If you take away Tom Brady, you know what he is? He's under .500. I think he was very blessed to have Tom Brady. I think now, that he doesn't have Tom Brady, he's like all the other coaches. All of the other good coaches: the Marvin Lewises, the Rex Ryans. I'm just being honest. People hate for you to be real about Belichick. I think he's a good coach, but all of the 'greatest' and 'we've never seen anything like him,' that's bullcrap.
McCoy added: "Imagine if (Mike) Tomlin had Tom Brady. He would have multiple championships. Imagine if a guy like Any Reid had Tom Brady. He would have multiple championships. Now that Tom Brady is gone, it's going to be a struggle every year for the Patriots to go to the playoffs. And then when they did go to the playoffs, they got blown out by a division opponent by like 30 points. I think he's a good coach, I just don't get overhyped like everyone else does because I just look at the stats."
The former running back's point about Reid, specifically, is probably one that can be argued. The Chiefs won one Super Bowl over the first four seasons of the Patrick Mahomes era despite the star quarterback playing at an MVP level from the get-go in Kansas City. Belichick and the Patriots, meanwhile, hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in all but one of Brady's first four seasons as a starter in Foxboro, a span when TB12 still was well outside of his prime.
It's exceptionally difficult to win multiple championships in the NFL, let alone staging two different dynasties over the span of two decades. As such, McCoy's stance reeks of someone who just wants to be a contrarian.
