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New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft expressed some regrets about the amount of power he gave Bill Belichick, particularly over his final years as head coach.
In an interview on The Breakfast Club (starts at 36:00 mark), Kraft explained that he had given Belichick “so much power” in the post-Tom Brady era that it hindered the organization.
“Our record the last three to four years wasn’t what I wanted,” Kraft said. “And I had given him so much power. He had full control over everything. And shame on me, I should’ve had some checks and balances better.”
Kraft made sure to point out that Belichick “earned that right” to get as much control over the team as he did because of how much success the Patriots had and “what he did for us was great.”
It’s not like Belichick’s authority came out of nowhere. He was given autonomy over the football operations department when the Patriots originally hired him as head coach in 2000.
There were people behind the scenes who had a prominent voice, including Scott Pioli during his nine seasons in the player personnel department from 2000 to ’08, but Belichick had the final say.
Tensions did boil over between Belichick and Tom Brady, to the point that Brady admitted in a documentary he left to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2019 season because of how things had fallen apart with his long-time head coach.
Belichick remained with the Patriots for four years after Brady’s departure. He did lead them to a playoff appearance in 2021, but they went 29-38 overall from 2020 to ’23.
Kraft and Belichick announced a mutual parting of ways in January, with the 72-year-old leaving the organization he coached for 24 seasons and led to six titles in nine Super Bowl appearances.
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