FOXBORO, Mass — A couple of hours after standing alongside former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during his final sendoff, team owner and CEO Robert Kraft spoke with the media Thursday and said the decision to part ways was motivated to fix something that wasn’t “quite right” with the organization in the past several seasons.
“So many games we were close. Is it the coaching, is it the personnel? Something isn’t quite right from where it was,” Kraft said. “This is a results business. And so often in life, it’s instinctual. I think both of us felt that the time was right for each of us to go off in our separate ways.”
Kraft didn’t attempt to point to specifics regarding New England’s backward slide since 2019 but said he viewed himself as the “custodian” of the franchise and vowed to right the ship.
Although the Patriots have missed the playoffs in three of the past four seasons since Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay, the Brookline-native turned Patriots owner denied any notion that the downward slide took away from Belichick’s legacy in Foxboro or that Brady was necessarily more important than his head coach.
“Why I love the NFL and why I think it’s great for young people to play it, it’s a great lesson in life because I don’t think there’s anything else, any other sport or any other experience that’s as team-based as and collective based as football,” said Kraft. “I don’t think either one of those two would’ve accomplished what they accomplished if they weren’t together.”
Kraft said the Patriots were “lucky” to have Brady and Belichick together for two decades. In Kraft’s mind, it was a fruitful enough partnership that the notion of trading Belichick was never on the table, just as it never was for his QB.
“I didn’t think it was right for Tom Brady who gave us 20 years and I don’t think it’s right for Bill. I think each of them demonstrated that they should be in a position to be able to do what’s right for them,” explained Kraft. “We try to do what we think is right for the proper values and ability to operate and get people who want to come and feel as if we’re gonna treat them fairly.”
Kraft said that the decision to part ways with Belichick was made after a Wednesday meeting, two days after their first reported offseason on Monday. Hours before that meeting, Belichick implied to reporters that he would be willing to relinquish control of the roster.
Kraft said that although he “thought about” a reorganization of roles, Belichick had simply become too entwined with every aspect of the organization to limit his control to the sideline and locker room.
“When you have someone like Bill who’s had control over every decision, every coach we hire, the organization reports to him on the draft, how much money we spend... every decision has been his,” said Kraft. “Accountability is important to me and where he had the responsibility and then someone else takes it, it’s gonna set up confusion... It wouldn’t work in my opinion.”
Kraft also specified that Belichick “earned” the ability to have full control over the organization after their third Super Bowl victory but didn’t sound like he intended the Patriots to return to the same dynamic anytime soon.
“All of us need checks and balances in our life,” Kraft responded. “As things evolve and you get more power sometimes people are afraid to speak up. I think it’s good to have checks and balances but once you have it, it’s kinda hard to pull it away and expect to have the accountability you want.”
When asked what qualities he was looking for in a future head coach, Kraft said the plan was to move very quickly but kept the desired qualities in a candidate simple.
“We are looking for someone who can get us back to the playoffs and win,” Kraft said. “I’m very upset when we don’t win games and it carries the whole week. I promise you, our family will be dedicated to doing the best we can do to bring a winning team back.”
Kraft also says he hopes the organization hopes to honor Belichick at a time when the three-time Coach of the Year is no longer patrolling NFL sidelines.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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