MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The announcement Thursday that there will be a New England Patriots head coach in 2024 not named Bill Belichick was a sea change event, particularly in the AFC East.
Since Robert Kraft hired Belichick in 2000, the Miami Dolphins have had 11 head coaches, including interims. Mike McDaniel is the most recent. He has 20 wins in two seasons. Belichick had 296, including playoff wins, in his quarter century in New England.
During his Thursday news conference, McDaniel — who went 3-1 in two seasons against Belichick — gave a funny, poignant sendoff to arguably the greatest coach in NFL history.
Miami Dolphins’ Mike McDaniel Discusses Bill Belichick
Before we get to his statement, a couple of mind-boggling Belichick stats.
During Belichick’s 24 years as their coach, the Patriots won six Super Bowls, nine AFC championships, and 17 AFC East titles.
The Dolphins’ totals in those important categories? Zero, zero, and one.
The latter was influenced strongly by the former.
Mike McDaniel’s thoughts on the end of the Bill Belichick Era in New England pic.twitter.com/uIu6BxsPu1
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) January 11, 2024
“You know, it’s really mixed emotions,” McDaniel said. “I’m more kind of just kind of taken aback by that in conjunction with coach [Nick] Saban and Pete Carroll [no longer coaching Alabama and the Seahawks].
“They have as much responsibility to what the game is right now as anybody that’s around. I have so much respect and regard for, you know, being able to do what they’ve done for that amount of time.
“I have a very close, firsthand experience on what it means. The sacrifice it takes to do this job, that it is a sacrifice, such a blessing, such an opportunity. But, you know, you really have to pour yourself into it, and when you do that for a quarter century, I can’t say enough positive words about coach Belichick. And I love coach Carroll and [include] Nick Saban in there because it feels the same way.”
McDaniel continued, “It’s a reminder to me that, you know, I’m just gonna be candid that Father Time’s a d—. You know, really not a nice guy. But it’s real, and I think it reminds you that everything is finite, and I think a lot of people have gained a lot of perspective, motivation. The leadership of coach Belichick has been really, really cool to watch.
“He’s been at the chair for 24 years in one organization. And it wasn’t because of entertaining press conferences. It was because he did his due diligence at what his job was.
“So, I have a lot of regard and, as you can tell, I’m kind of mourning the loss of those three, for sure.”
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