Bill Belichick praises “thriving” relationship with Tom Brady

In stark contrast to reports from recent years saying their relationship was strained, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are reportedly “thriving” together now.

As an unexpectedly turbulent offseason continues to dominate New England Patriots headlines – Robert Kraft’s scandal, numerous free agent losses, key coaching departures, etc – at least one aspect of the franchise is reportedly better than ever, and it’s a crucial one.

In a sitdown interview with Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski on Coach K’s weekly Sirius XM radio show, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked about his relationship with quarterback Tom Brady. The two icons have enjoyed one of the most successful pairings in the history of professional sports over the past two decades, but reports surfaced in 2017 and again in 2018 that their relationship had supposedly become strained.

If that indeed was ever the case, it appears some of the strain has lifted, and the relationship may in fact be better than ever, at least according to Belichick. While it’s notable that neither he nor Brady ever really went into detail regarding whether the reports were true or not after they became public knowledge, Belichick praised his relationship with Brady effusively.

"“There’s some things that he sees that I just don’t see, and I think the reverse is true,” Belichick told Krzyzewski. “I love football. I love learning about football. I think Tom is the same. I think we’ve learned from each other, and we’ve been able to grow together. I think it’s a thriving relationship that never gets old. If he doesn’t like a play, we don’t need to run it. If I don’t like a play, we don’t need to call it. There’s enough things that we can find that we do agree on and we do like.”"

Clearly, Belichick is speaking the truth. If the two living legends were no longer compatible, there’s no way the Patriots could have had the season they just had in 2018, which culminated in a record-tying sixth Super Bowl championship.

"“In [basketball], it’s great because everybody plays offense, everybody plays defense,” Belichick elaborated. “But in our sport, there’s a division between offense, defense, special teams, and a lot of times it’s hard to pull all those together. But, as a head coach, it’s important to be able to manage those critical situations with your quarterback, your offensive coordinator, your special teams coach, and your defense all together. I think Tom and I have spent a lot of time building that philosophy, understanding what we’re each thinking in certain situations, so when they come up, he can anticipate what I want to do [and] I can anticipate what he’d like to do. We try to get the best thing. I’d say we both work at it.”"

Belichick also mentioned that he continues to regularly meet one-on-one with Brady at least twice a week to go over game plan and scouting reports during the season, and went so far as to compliment Brady by saying the 41-year-old signal-caller “prepares at a level like no other player that I’ve coached.”

It’s refreshing to hear such praise coming directly from Belichick’s mouth, and highlights just how much the relationship between the two seems to have improved over the past year. It’s also a substantial nugget of optimism Patriots fans can latch onto in the midst of a largely-disheartening offseason thus far.