Former Patriots running back James White shares his thoughts on whether or not Bill Belichick can still relate to younger players in today’s NFL.
A lot of people consider Bill Belichick to be the greatest head coach in NFL history. However, we wouldn't include Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey in that mix.
The 27-year-old veteran, whose Ravens just gave an awful performance in an AFC Championship Game loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week, took a weird shot at Belichick on Thursday after the final head coach vacancy was filled. The Washington Commanders hired Dan Quinn on Thursday. It was the last open head coach job of this hiring cycle, thus increasing the possibility of Belichick not being a coach next season.
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"The 'greatest coach of All time' did not get hired out of 6 Head Coaching jobs open. I think that debate can be put to rest now," Humprhey wrote on X.
Sure, Belichick didn't have a ton of success with the New England Patriots over the last four seasons. The Patriots missed the playoffs in three of those years, including the 2023 campaign when they went 4-13 at the bottom of the AFC standings.
Belichick does deserve plenty of blame for the team's struggles, but it was mostly his roster-building decisions and not coaching that led to the lack of success. He's still as sharp as anyone from an Xs and Os perspective -- just look at the Patriots defense.
Belichick will be 72 years old in Week 1 next season. He's also 15 wins away from breaking Don Schula's all-time record. He's not the ideal candidate for a rebuilding team, and those were most of the jobs available this hiring cycle.
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Belichick has a record six Super Bowl titles as a head coach. All of them came with Tom Brady, but he also went to the playoffs with a backup in Matt Cassel (2008) and a rookie Mac Jones (2021). Let's not forget Belichick also won two Super Bowl rings as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants in the 1980s. His draft record, despite some recent misses, is arguably the best in league history.
Humphrey came into the league in 2017 when the Ravens drafted him in the first round. He's been a good player for Baltimore, but the franchise has a 2-5 record in playoff games with zero Super Bowl appearances during his career. The Ravens have been arguably the most underwhelming playoff team in that span, given the regular season success they've enjoyed.
The Ravens have a lot of work to do after their collapse against the Chiefs. Maybe Humphrey should focus a little more on that.
