Eighteen months ago, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and coach Bill Belichick stood beside each other at a podium inside Gillette Stadium on a cold January day and announced their divorce. It was a mutual decision, they insisted, one made through handshakes and fistfuls of cash as the team Belichick oversaw so successfully for so long crumbled into one of the NFL’s worst.
The plan was for an amicable parting of ways. No one would badmouth the other, even though the feud between the two had long ago turned bitter. Let two dynasties and the greatest run in NFL history be untainted by their quarrel.
That day, Kraft called Belichick “the greatest coach of all time.” Belichick expressed his gratitude to Kraft for hiring him.
But for two men with deep grudges and big egos, the kind words didn’t last long. Kraft later said he “fired” Belichick, a departure from the statement that January day. Belichick didn’t mention Kraft in his 304-page book, released in May, going out of his way in interviews to avoid crediting Kraft. Then there was the 10-part Apple documentary on the Patriots dynasty, in which many thought Belichick came out portrayed as the bad guy. It was another shot fired in a public battle both claimed they didn’t want.
Finally, though, things seemed to be simmering down. Belichick and Kraft each had their own business to worry about. The 73-year-old coach was hired by the University of North Carolina, where he has dealt with questions and headlines amid PR blunders that often seem to involve his 24-year-old girlfriend. Meanwhile, Kraft’s hand-picked successor to Belichick flamed out after one season, forcing Kraft to pivot to his third coach in three seasons.
The two men had bigger fish to fry. Or so it seemed.
That was until Wednesday, when Belichick, clearly still insecure about his public image, ran to ESPN with a statement combatting seemingly benign comments made by his former boss that few seemed to care about.
Last week, the 84-year-old Kraft was at a live taping of the “Dudes on Dudes” podcast, co-hosted by former Patriots stars Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, when he was asked to identify the best decision he has made as an owner.
Kraft responded, “Well, the one that got questioned the most was in ’99. I gave up a No. 1 draft pick for a coach who had only won a little over 40 percent of his games. But getting Bill Belichick to come to the Patriots in 1999 was a big risk, and I got hammered in the Boston media. But he was with us for 24 years, and we did OK.”
It’s hard to know the meaning behind the owner’s comments, but they can almost be taken as a compliment! Kraft seems to be calling hiring Belichick the greatest decision he ever made.
Whatever the case, few took notice of the statement. Most who did interpreted it as flattering. In one of the few national stories on the remarks, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio began by saying, “The ice apparently is thawing, at least a bit, between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former Patriots coach Bill Belichick.”
But that was not Belichick’s interpretation. He seems to have been so offended by Kraft calling his hiring a “big risk” — which it was, by the way — that he made his way to ESPN with a statement that once again brings his feud with Kraft back into the spotlight.
“As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job,” Belichick told ESPN. “I already had an opportunity to be the Head Coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation (there) was unstable.
“I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots’ coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles. I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success.”
When Belichick previously pushed back on the notion that he was fired, it seemed reasonable. The agreement was that it would be termed a mutual split. If he wanted to be mad at Kraft for that, it made sense. He had a right to be.
But now Belichick just looks petty. He’s mad that Kraft called hiring him a risk amid an answer suggesting that his hiring was the best move of the owner’s career? Come on.
Also, of course it was a risk! Imagine if a struggling team today gave up a first-round pick for a coach with a sub-.500 record.
I don’t understand why this is a thing.
Kraft absolutely took a “big risk” trading a first-round pick for Belichick, who flamed out with the Browns.
It’s a fact, not an opinion.
I didn’t need to hear from Belichick on this.https://t.co/zfoAEIAOCu— Greg A. Bedard (@GregABedard) July 16, 2025
In a lot of ways, it’s sad what has become of this. The two could have ridden off into the sunset, at least publicly, having constructed — along with Tom Brady — an incomparable run of NFL success.
But fragile egos have a way of messing things up. And now it threatens to complicate things going forward, too.
Next month, the Patriots are set to unveil a 12-foot, bronze statue of Brady outside Gillette Stadium. It’ll be a massive celebration of the legendary quarterback, but it will also generate questions about how the franchise honors its greats in the future.
It seems likely that, one day, there will be statues of Brady, Belichick and Kraft outside the stadium commemorating their legendary run together. But will Belichick, a notorious grudge holder, be willing to put his icy feelings aside and return for that? Even if he does, how could it not be hideously awkward for all parties, including the fans?
And what will happen if Belichick is named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year, and the Patriots are picked to play in the Hall of Fame preseason game next summer? Or what if Kraft finally gets the nod into Canton the same year as Belichick? Those are hypotheticals and questions for another day, but Belichick is clearly bothered to such a degree that there aren’t clear answers.
At one point in time, the hope was that Belichick and Kraft would keep their differences to themselves and let their collective successes speak for them.
Instead, 18 months later, it’s clear Belichick is still incredibly sensitive to any perceived slight. The man who once preached blocking out any external noise is now dead set on responding to even the most casual of remarks.
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
