New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will likely go down as the greatest in history. His accomplishments stack up with anyone that has come before him, and it’s a guarantee his bust will one day reside in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite all of that, the 71-year-old Belichick, who is the NFL’s longest-tenured head coach, shows no signs at slowing down.
But what exactly is it that keeps Belichick going? He certainly loves the game of football, but running the show in New England isn’t quite the treat it once was. The Patriots are no longer the dominant, unstoppable force that strikes fear into every opponent. Work in Foxborough has become more of a grind, and it has to be taking a toll on Belichick.
As it turns out, Belichick has plenty of fuel that keeps him pressing forward.
That fuel comes in the form of Belichick’s desire to establish himself as the NFL’s all-time winningest head coach. Not just because he wants to set the mark, mind you, but reportedly because he wants to take it away from legendary Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula, who passed away in 2020.
Christopher Price of the Boston Globe appeared on Dolphins Talk earlier this week and revealed that Belichick is still angry that Shula bad-mouthed him during the infamous ‘Spygate’ scandal of 2007.
“If I can’t whip you off the books with another perfect season, I’m going to do the next best thing, I’m going to take your all-time wins record,” Price said of Belichick’s thinking and motivation, via Dov Kleiman.
Shula had taken aim at Belichick repeatedly over the years, often calling him “Beli-cheat.”
“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished, you would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it,” Shula said in 2007.
The NFL fined Belichick $500,000 for his role in Spygate. They also fined the Patriots organization $250,000 and docked the team their original first-round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. But all of that paled in comparison to their true punishment — a 17-14 loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII, which is still considered the biggest upset in Super Bowl history.
Belichick has 298 all-time wins to his name and needs just two more to become only the third coach in league history to reach the 300 wins mark. Shula remains at the top with 328 wins, meaning Belichick would need to average 10 wins per season over the next three years to catch him.
So long as Robert Kraft and the Patriots are willing to stick with him, it’s hard to envision a scenario where petty Belichick gives up on his goal of surpassing the late Don Shula.
