Tom Brady and Bill Belichick turned the New England Patriots into the most dominant force American football has seen this century.
Six Super Bowls across 20 years together. A quarterback and a head coach who pushed each other relentlessly, even when the relationship carried its share of tension.
Two strong personalities, two decision-makers — and a question that has followed them ever since. When a game came down to the wire, who was really in charge?
Gary Neville put the question to Brady on The Overlap, during a 90-minute chat with one of the greatest American athletes of all time.
Tom Brady weighs the coach versus quarterback debate
Brady is the most decorated quarterback the sport has produced.
Belichick is just as revered, widely held up as the greatest coach the NFL has ever seen. His star quarterback wouldn’t argue otherwise.
So when Neville asked who really held control in those defining moments on Stick To Football, Brady would not hand it to one man.
He said: “It’s a little of both. In American football, there’s nobody more important to winning a game Monday through Saturday than the head coach. He is the most important person in the organization — preparing the team, holding people accountable, getting the players to perform at a high level.
“On game day, there’s nobody more important to winning than the quarterback. Everybody’s important on the field — the kickers, the punters, the linemen, the D-linemen — but the quarterback touches the ball on every play.”
That, in his view, is where games are won.
He added: “If your quarterback plays better than their quarterback, you have a 90% chance of winning. The coach can’t do much on game day. He’s done his work Monday through Saturday.”
It is the oldest argument in the American game — coach or quarterback. Brady’s verdict was that it was never a choice between the two.
The coach has his fingerprints on everything, but when the chips are down, it’s the quarterback who takes the responsibility.
He concluded by saying: “You need both to be exceptional. If there are 32 teams in the league and you want to be successful over a period of time, you better have a top-five quarterback and a top-five head coach at the same time.”
For 20 years in New England, Brady and Belichick were exactly that. The trophies followed.
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