Patriots' Robert Kraft explains parting ways with Bill Belichick

While New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick "mutually agreed to part ways" following the 2023 season, it's no secret Kraft showed Belichick the door after the club posted a 4-13 record. 

During a recent appearance on "The Breakfast Club" podcast, Kraft discussed moving on from the man many consider the greatest head coach in NFL history. 

"I didn’t enjoy having to fire him," Kraft said about Belichick, as Lauren Campbell of MassLive shared. "But if you look at the press conference and how it happened, I tried to do it in a classy way. And what he did for us was great. People need to adapt, and if they don’t, things can change." 

Belichick and legendary quarterback Tom Brady guided the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships from 2000 until Brady left the club as a free agent in March 2020. While Brady helped the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl in his first season with that organization, Belichick's Patriots missed the playoffs three times across four years before Kraft decided he needed to change. 

"In life, it’s about getting good chemistry and trust. And our record the last three to four years wasn’t what I wanted," Kraft said during the interview. "And I had given [Belichick] so much power. He had full control over everything. And shame on me, I should’ve had some checks and balances better."

Kraft insisted this past January that retaining Belichick as head coach but hiring an executive who would've been tasked with making personnel decisions wouldn't have worked for anybody involved because Belichick previously "had control over every decision." Kraft ultimately promoted inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo to the role of head coach and made Eliot Wolf the team's new executive vice president of player personnel.

"He had earned that right," Kraft said during the podcast about Belichick essentially running the Patriots' football operations for over two decades. "But then the results weren’t there and if you’re in the sports business, you win or you lose. There’s no gray. And I hate losing." 

It was reported during the offseason that Belichick and Kraft "just got sick of each other" following Brady's departure. A different story claimed Kraft "was a big part" of why the Atlanta Falcons passed on hiring Belichick this past winter. 

The 2024 Patriots are 1-5 amid the early stages of a needed roster rebuild. Meanwhile, Belichick could return to the sidelines next year with a team such as the Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles or Jacksonville Jaguars.