The coaching tree of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick might not be flourishing, but the seeds from his front office have spread across the league.
Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht says that he drafted a kicker in the second round because of Belichick’s influence. Lions general manager Bob Quinn is focusing on building the depth of the roster, just like how the Patriots did.
All offshoot general managers try to build their teams in the image of the Patriots Dynasty under Bill Belichick. But if you ask one former general manager that served under Belichick, finding team success isn’t as simple as copy-and-pasting the blueprint.
“[The Patriots are] unique,” former Oilers and Titans general manager Floyd Reese said over the weekend on SiriusXM NFL Radio, as transcribed by CBS Sports. “It’s the only place of its kind in the league, probably will be the only place of its kind in the league from here on out.”
Reese served as a senior football advisor for the Patriots between 2009 and 2012.
“It’s so precise and exact in everything they do, with a very good reason behind it. I mean, it was a joy for me to work there and spend time there and get a feeling for the way things should be done,” Reese continued. “And everybody that leaves there wants to emulate what you’re doing in New England, and as long as they can take Bill Belichick with them, they have a chance of emulating that. But I doubt Bill’s going any place, and therefore you can take bits and pieces of it that are very well done, very good, and you can maybe add those to whatever it is you’re trying to do.
“But for you to leave there and try to copy what they’re doing would be a real mistake, and I think we’ve seen that attempt two or three times by coaches and by personnel people, GM-type guys. It’s unique, we’d all like to be that way. But you know what? There’s only one Bill Belichick.”
Ain’t that the truth. All of these general managers can build their rosters by adding the same mid-tier talents that Belichick wanted to add (looking at you, Lions GM Bob Quinn, who basically signed the Patriots entire offseason wish list). They can draft all the second round kickers they want.
So long as the Patriots have Bill Belichick- the single most valuable asset in the NFL- no other team will be able to copy the model.