Tom Brady Cannot Imagine Idea Of Bill Belichick Leaving Patriots

If anyone knows how Bill Belichick operates with the New England Patriots, it's Tom Brady.

The legendary head coach's future is up for discussion with the Patriots sitting at 2-8 in an uncharacteristically bad season. At age 71, retirement or another team could be the next stop for Belichick. For Brady, the latter path feels hard to believe.

In an appearance on the "Stephen A. Smith Show," the former New England quarterback gave his assessment of the state of Belichick's career, including the struggles of 2023.

"He's an incredible coach," Brady said, as transcribed by WEEI's Mike Kadlick. "He's the best coach, in my belief, in the history of the game. The thought of him not being in New England is hard for me to think about. He prepares the team really well. Ultimately, you have to have a lot of people around you to succeed. You've got to have a lot of things in place for the organization to be successful."

In that area, though it was Belichick who built the roster, the Patriots have not had enough around to support the team with insufficient offensive skill players, a regression from quarterback Mac Jones and several defensive stars missing with injuries.

Despite a new era with new players, Brady believes that Belichick is operating as he always has during his historic tenure in New England.

"I don't think he's coaching much different now than when we were undefeated in 2007," Brady added. "I'm sure he's preparing the team the same way. The results are different. That's what makes the sport so challenging. There's a lot of reasons why teams win or lose."

While Belichick has taken heat for the constant losing this season, Brady believes that the blame for the lack of success is much more widespread and comes down to the players on the field.

"The head coach is a very small part on game day," Brady explained. "The quarterback plays a really big part on game day, not the entire thing, but because you touch the ball, you have a big opportunity to impact the game. So if you get good quarterback play, I'm just talking in general about football, you've got an advantage."

"Ultimately, it's a lot of things coming together, why things works and why they don't," Brady added.

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The Patriots still have seven games to finish out the season and further dissect Belichick's future, starting with a Week 12 visit with the New York Giants.