There’s been a lot of discussion around former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his legacy after the end of his tenure and the recent “The Dynasty” miniseries. But free agent cornerback and former New England Patriots star Stephon Gilmore wants to clear the air on the issue.
Taking to X on Friday, Gilmore declared that Belichick was the greatest coach he ever had. He believes that the thing that really cemented Belichick in his mind was Super Bowl LIII, when the Patriots coach changed the defense to a zone defense after playing man-coverage for most of the season.
“Just watched The Dynasty. Bill was the greatest coach I’ve ever been around. Don’t let that fool you. I’ll never forget we were a predominantly man team during the 2018 season all the way up to the Super Bowl. When we played the Rams we switched to Zone,” Gilmore wrote.
Many fans were happy to see a player who was as good as Gilmore for the Patriots showing Belichick so much respect given the way he has been knocked in recent months for how his tenure ended:
“This is why @BumpNrunGilm0re is one of my favorite former pats. Nothing but facts,” one user wrote.
“Love this from Gilly. The treatment of Bill has been unfair. At the end GM Bill missed on QB and WRs and some O line and that took him out of here. Not his coaching,” wrote another.
“A very obvious hit piece on Bill. And every trustworthy player very vocally opposed. Shoutout Gilly for the lockdown coverage in New England,” a third declared.
There was never any doubt that Belichick has a lot of supporters behind him. The real question is whether or not Belichick is as great as his record says he was, or if his record was a direct result of having the greatest quarterback of all-time for nearly 20 years.