New England Patriots

Bill Belichick deserves more credit for Tom Brady's success, Colin Cowherd says

Published Oct. 1, 2021 11:05 a.m. ET

Apparently, it's "beat up on Bill Belichick week," according to Colin Cowherd.

Ahead of Sunday's massive clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots, the vast majority of the chatter around the league has been about Belichick's relationship with former Pats quarterback Tom Brady – and how that relationship deteriorated.

For the most part, the "blame" in the divorce between legendary coach and legendary QB seems to be falling in Belichick's lap.

Belichick has spent a lot of the week batting down or deflecting questions about the past, choosing instead to speak highly of his former QB and focus on Sunday's game, rather than "rehash" all that.

While Brady might have won the divorce, Cowherd said it's getting a bit too easy for people to pile on Belichick.

"We all kind of know: Quarterbacks, if they're great, are more valuable than coaches," Cowherd said on "The Herd" on Thursday. "… What's the split? 60-40, 70-30, whatevs. But it's ‘beat up on Belichick week’ because Brady has had so much enormous success. But it should be noted: Bill is the best football coach ever."

Under Belichick and Brady, the Patriots formed a dynasty that lasted 20 years, thrice as long as other legendary NFL dynasties, Cowherd said.

With seemingly everyone praising Brady and slating Belichick, Cowherd listed six things to remember "about the greatest football coach of all time."

1. Belichick picked Brady

"He drafted him," Cowherd said. "Nobody else did. Bill saw it and drafted him."

With the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected an, at the time, unremarkable quarterback out of Michigan by the name of Tom Brady. We've all seen the Combine photo, and his pre-draft report was less-than-luminary.

Nevertheless, Belichick and the Pats picked Brady in the sixth round.

2. Belichick fostered Brady's incomparable work ethic

"He identified very early – read the books on Belichick – Brady's willfulness, his work ethic, his leadership," Cowherd said.

That work ethic became a trademark of Brady, who always had a "first man in, last man out" mentality when it came to working and preparation with the Patriots. Take this story from Rodney Harrison, who joined the Pats organization in 2003, via the Sports Rush:

"This was when I first got to New England, we had become friends and we were in the weight room. I show up around 6:30 in the morning and he says to me, ‘Good afternoon!’ So the next day, I get the hint, and come in 15 minutes earlier. Same thing: he says, ‘Good afternoon!’ Then the next day it’s 5:45 in the morning, and he makes sure to say it twice: ‘Good afternoon! Good afternoon!’ So I make it at 5:30 the next day and before he could say anything to me, I looked at him and said, ‘Man, I don’t give a damn what you say, Tom, I’m not coming in earlier than 5:30!’ We both laughed at that."

Rodney Harrison won two Super Bowls with Tom Brady in New England

3. Belichick eased Brady in

"He didn't rush Tom Brady," Cowherd said. "Look at the Jets right now. He slowly, smartly, built around Brady."

Brady barely sniffed the field his rookie season, sitting behind starter Drew Bledsoe in 2000. In fact, two other QBs – John Friesz and Michael Bishop – both had more attempts (21 and nine attempts, respectively) than Brady's three attempts that season.

As the No. 2 in 2001, he stepped in when Bledsoe got injured in Week 2 of the season and the rest is history.

4. Belichick supplied Brady with cheap, but effective, weapons

"He equipped him throughout his career with [Randy] Moss, [Wes] Welker, [Julian] Edelman," Cowherd said. "And you know what all of them came at? Under market value. He didn't have to break up the team to get Moss or Gronk or Welker or Edelman."

Moss, a Hall of Famer, had his best season as a pro in his first year in New England, racking up 23 touchdowns and 1,493 yards. Though not near the big-play wideout that Moss was for Brady, Welker and Edelman both had long, productive careers with the Patriots.

For more up-to-date news on all things Patriots, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

5. Belichick hired brilliant coordinators

"Brady never had a miss at coordinator," Cowherd said. "I mean, Troy Aikman got stuck with Barry Switzer [as a head coach]. Aaron Rodgers got stuck with [Mike] McCarthy. Brady never even got a bad coordinator! And, oh yeah, this matters, sort of. In the biggest games, Bill Belichick often out-coached, outsmarted, out-dueled great coaches. ... Tom didn't have to compensate for his coach."

Brady had three different offensive coordinators during his days with the Patriots: Charlie Weis, Josh McDaniels and Bill O'Brien. In his 18 years as a full-time starter in New England, Brady's offense never finished worse than 12th in points scored and was in the top 10 in 17 out of those 18 seasons.

6. Belichick convinced players to take less for the greater good

"Bill was so smart that he got players to take pay cuts," Cowherd said. "... Bill got all these players through the years to just take less. What? Football players take less? He got the greatest, in fact, greatest football player to take less for over a decade."

In 20 seasons with New England, Brady raked in $235.2 million, per Spotrac. Sure, that's nothing to sneeze at, but Brady left plenty on the table in a series of team-friendly deals. In doing so, he allowed the Patriots to add other important players and remain under the league's salary cap during their dynastic run.

It's a different day and age now, but contrast Brady's career earnings with how much Josh Allen is making on his new deal with the Buffalo Bills, and you can see what teams are willing to pay for QBs.

In two seasons with Tampa Bay alone, Brady is making $55.9 million. That is nearly a quarter of what he earned in two decades with the Patriots.

For more up-to-date news on all things "The Herd," click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!