NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Patriots found a way, again, to get to the Super Bowl.
Around the NFL everyone else dreams of establishing a New England-caliber program, that consistently plays in and wins Super Bowls, that has an all-time great coach and quarterback under steady ownership, that can regularly find quality players who fill roles and then find their replacements when they get hurt, or old, or expensive.
But no one has come close to matching the model, primarily because no one has found a Bill Belichick to pair with a Tom Brady.
Romeo Crennel, Charlie Weis, Eric Mangini, Josh McDaniels and Bill O’Brien have failed to reach a Super Bowl much less win one. Neither has Jim Schwartz, who may or may not qualify as a branch on Belichick’s coaching tree. He scouted for Belichick in Cleveland, but then started coaching in Baltimore and then Tennessee.
O’Brien is a good coach. I believe Schwartz is worthy of another shot.
The failures of the others have not kept the league away from Belichick assistants.
