Bill Belichick says Tom Brady made right decision leaving the Patriots
Bill Belichick spent his NFL career always focused on the next play or the next game. With those days now behind him, it's about reflecting on the past. The former New England Patriots coach joined Fox News' Sean Hannity on the latest episode of the "Hang Out" podcast , where he spoke about a variety of topics from his Hall of Fame snub to Tom Brady's decision to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and everything in between. The coach's NFL days are long gone at this point. He departed the Patriots organization after the 2023 season, officially leaving the post in Jan. 2024 in what was framed as a mutual decision with team owner Robert Kraft. MORE: Tom Brady talks failure, comebacks, Bill Belichick in commencement speech It has been an up-and-down journey for Belichick in the years since. The current North Carolina Tar Heels football head coach has been in the news for his move to the college ranks and his personal relationships. Belichick was back on the NFL radar this offseason after news surfaced that he wouldn't be part of the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame class – something that left many in disbelief . The coach had always been known for keeping things close to the vest, or hoodie in this case. Now he's peeling back the curtain and speaking his mind. Here's a look at some of the highlights from Belichick's discussion with Hannity. Brady's 20th season with the Patriots was capped off with a pick-six to the Tennessee Titans ' Logan Ryan in the wild-card round. Rather than sign up for another year, the then-six-time Super Bowl champion quarterback opted for a new challenge. He signed with the Buccaneers ahead of the 2020 season, a decision that Belichick said was the right one. "Tom leaving was absolutely the right thing for him to do," Belichick told Hannity. "We didn’t have a good team in 2020. We just didn’t have a good football team. We had all those guys that left –[Rob] Gronkowski and [Julian] Edelman. Most of our team was gone. [Devin] McCourty and a few others were still there, but they were about to go too. We were just at the end." Belichick added that he was happy things worked out for Brady, saying they would've gone much differently if he had stayed in New England . "It wouldn’t have gone well in 2020 in New England," he said. "On this, I can guarantee that. We put everything we had into the '19 season, including paying him a lot of money at the end of the year without anything for it. There was no first right of refusal, there was no franchise tag, nothing. "And so we all understood that there was a good chance he would leave. And I think he made a great career decision, obviously. I wish we could have done more, but we went as far as we could. And look, he proved it – he played longer than anybody, played at a higher level than anybody. And again, tremendous credit to him. Nobody else did that – that was him." Longevity and continuity aren't easy in the constantly evolving world of sports. Despite those challenges, Brady and Belichick spent 20 seasons together, winning six Super Bowls. Many have debated for years whether Brady or Belichick deserved more credit for New England's success, but the coach revealed that it was a true partnership. "I learned so much from Tom," Belichick said. "I never played quarterback. Tom saw the game through a quarterback’s eyes. I saw the game through a coach’s eyes. Together, I think we both learned a lot from each other – Tom on how defensive coaches looked at him or looked at offense, and me on what a quarterback can do and what he can’t do, what’s hard, what’s easy, what I can see, what I can't see, and how you see the game." The coach later added that once Brady took over as the starter, everything was tailored to what Brady did best – both in play-calling and in how they built the roster. Still, Brady always wanted to make sure he was treated as one of the guys. "People say, well, I was hard on Tom and I yelled at Tom," Belichick said. "Yeah, I mean, at times [... truncated ...]
