It's Not the Filmmakers' Fault that Bill Belichick Sucks in 'The Dynasty: New England Patriots'

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 5, 2024 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | March 5, 2024 |

The docuseries The Dynasty: New England Patriots is currently streaming over on Apple TV+, and for NFL fans, casual or otherwise, it’s an excellent doc, even if you hate the Patriots as much as I do. It’s not that it provides a ton of new information, but it does track the rise of the Patriots as told by the players and coaches involved, which includes extensive interviews with Tom Brady, the man whom Brady replaced, Drew Bledsoe, Lawyer Milloy, Randy Moss, Dante Stallworth, and notably owner Robert Kraft and the head coach throughout their 20-year-run, Bill Belichick.

If the docuseries has sparked any controversy, it’s from Bill Simmons, the owner of the Ringer, long-time podcaster, and Patriots homer. He’s upset with the docuseries because he believes it is anti-Bill Belichick, as he said on his podcast last Friday, per Awful Announcing:

“It’s very well edited and very well done. It is so anti-Belichick and so pro-Kraft that it’s hard for me to wrap my head around,” Simmons said on The Bill Simmons Podcast. “It’s the equivalent of if the HBO executive who greenlit The Sopranos and then was running HBO during The Sopranos then did a documentary about The Sopranos, and David Chase was just shit on and dismissed half the time. That’s what it feels like watching it.”

Simmons also added, “I know for a fact he didn’t want to do the interview because he knew what was happening, and they made him do it.”

It’s not hard to believe that the organization made Belichick participate, but to the extent the docuseries is anti-Belichick and pro-Kraft, it has everything to do with how Belichick approaches his interviews. While Bob Kraft is open about the mistakes the organization has made over the years and takes responsibility for them to the extent that he was responsible, head coach Bill Belichick responds to all tough questions with either an uncomfortable “No comment” or something along the lines of, “I’ve already said everything that I plan to say about that.” That includes Spygate and the organization’s mistakes with Aaron Hernandez, who may not have killed an innocent person and himself in prison had Belichick honored his request to be traded to the West Coast and away from the bad influences in his nearby hometown. To be clear, Belichick was not responsible for Hernandez’s actions — only Aaron Hernandez is — but Belichick had an opportunity to put an individual’s interests over that of the team, and Belichick declined to do so despite what was clearly a situation headed toward disaster. When asked about his handling of the matter, however, Belichick demurs.

It is also interesting to see how players talk about Belichick throughout the series. In the beginning, Tom Brady and the more veteran players are quick to buy into Belichick’s coaching style, which mostly amounts to bullying, humiliation, and yelling. It’s the Bob Knight school. There’s not a lot of positive reinforcement on display. As newer players from younger generations come in, however, they are less willing to buy into Belichick’s old-school coaching style, and over the course of those 20 years, he seems to lose not just the buy-in from players but their respect.

It’s clear from this context that, by episode 6, the style is beginning to wear on Brady. While the series still has four more episodes to go, it seems evident that Belichick is why Brady ultimately decided to leave the organization he had won six Super Bowls with. It’s probably also why Belichick has been unable to get much out of his players over the last few seasons, post-Brady, why the coach was fired at the end of the most recent season, and why one of the most winningest coaches of all time — who also has the most Super Bowl appearances and wins among all head coaches — was not hired by another team in the off-season.

All of which is to say: The Dynasty is not anti-Belichick, except to the extent that the docuseries accurately depicts Bill Belichick being Bill Belichick. To call it anti-Belichick is like calling a music critic anti-Creed because he listened to the music of Creed. It’s not the critic’s fault that Creed sucks. Likewise, it’s not the filmmakers’ fault in The Dynasty that Bill Belichick sucks.