Patriots Great Weighs In On Tom Brady Vs. Bill Belichick Debate

When you have great players and great coaches build a dynasty in sports, there will always be the question of who was more important to the team.

Appearing on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" on Thursday, retired safety Devin McCourty weighed in on the debate surrounding Tom Brady and Bill Belichick's impact on the New England Patriots' championships.

"I think both can be true. I think Brady is probably the greatest player ever," McCourty said on the show. "But I think Brady is part of the greatest player ever because of what the six titles in New England.

"If you had to rank the top quarterbacks, just talent-wise, how high would you rank Brady? Well, you have Aaron Rodgers and John Elway, you know what I mean? So I think that gap of why he is that is Bill Belichick. It is Tom can just show up and play under Bill."

McCourty noted that while he was in New England for 10 years of Brady's career, he never saw the quarterback ripping his teammates in the locker room.

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"That's Bill's role. That's Bill keeping the standard, keeping that culture around Tom and all those things," McCourty said. "Tom didn't have to worry about that. But I think when Tom went to Tampa he saw a little bit of a difference of how he had to kind of not be Bill Belichick, but he had to have that kind of side to him, 'Hey guys, like this is a standard that we need to push to day in and day out.'"

McCourty recognized that Brady went on to win a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during his first year with the team but added that is not the norm when a player changes teams and Belichick set the tone right from the beginning.

"I think that difference is a coach Belichick demanding the team and half of the thing was Tom let Bill demand a lot out of him in front of the team," McCourty said. "Which set the tone for my first ever (team) meeting. Bill went right at Tom. ... And I think every guy in the meeting room, especially rookie or second year, were like, 'I'm gonna get cut if I don't perform.'

"I know that was my mindset as a first-round rookie that if I don't do what I need to do, they'll have me out of here and I think (Tom) being able to be coachable set the tone. Obviously, I can only talk for the 10 years I was there, but that set the tone for our whole time there and that was really a big reason why we were able to have that run."

Brady and Belichick won six titles together and made a nine total Super Bowl appearances with three of those showing resulting in losses but still making them one of the most successful franchises in NFL history.

"So I think both can be true, though. They both were great. And that's why that run was historical," McCourty concluded.