O’Donnell: Belichick should have studied Phil Jackson’s career management
THE MEMORABLE FRENCH LEADER CHARLES DE GAULLE is credited with saying, “Graveyards are filled with indispensable men.”
Bill Belichick was once as indispensable a man as there was on NFL sidelines.
Monday night on ESPN, Belichick was out of place, out of time and as dispensable as a pedestrian junior college coach whistling out the string.
The first outing of his North Carolina team resulted in a 48-14 thrashing by visiting TCU. The game slogged along with all the joy of surge-side cleanup after a hurricane.
AS A NATIONAL TV SHOWCASE, the drudgery was so encompassing that a second-half highlight was when Peter — analyst Kirk Herbstreit's dog and younger brother of the late golden retriever Ben — was featured in a cut to the broadcast booth with headset on and paws on the console.
The micro points are all forgettable coda. Belichick attempting to coach NIL-age college football in North Carolina was like a revival of “The Andy Griffith Show” with the sheriff being played by a meaner-looking Willie Nelson.
FOR MOST OF HIS 24 SEASONS with the Patriots, Belichick flashed constant mastery of so many elements of coaching and organization. One hole in his resume proved to be the politics of the exit.
Tom Brady's departure was the end of Belichick's dance hall days. The coach was apparently the last to realize when the music was over.
Thus, hello Hills — Chapel and Boot.
It's too bad he didn't study the wile and means of Phil Jackson years ago.
BOTH WERE COACHES WITH an amazing knack for winning big-time championships on the wings and flings of generational megastars.
But when the deep operational implosiveness of the Bulls' GM-general partner vertical started oozing into public view in 1996, Jackson summoned great strategic restraint.
He stuck to the title tasks at hand and did his job until he was quite clearly told his instincts and expertise were no longer needed.
P-JAX RODE INTO A PASSING CHICAGO SUNSET in full glory, his dignity and soul intact. One idle season later — six championship rings already in his saddle bag — he signed on with Shaq, Kobe and all to eventually produce five more with the Lakers.
Belichick dallied too long into his New England autumn. The four down-bound seasons after the 2019 departure of Tom Brady merely took much of the loft out of Belichick's NFL marketing value.
He dipped from tight-lipped master to hollowed 73-year-old in search of a sideline — any sideline — to call his own.
THE RESULT WAS THERE for all of America to see Monday night. TCU's 41-0 midgame run had to make some long for the Labor Day night endings of Jerry Lewis' telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
NC fans certainly wanted a new tote.
Belichick was left to walk alone.
And it confirmed for all who stay tuned that indispensable coaches do indeed have shelf lives and career graveyards.
STREET-BEATIN':
Strict rules were in place precluding media access to Michael Jordan at the North Carolina-TCU game. Air Mike stayed in a guarded suite with old chums including Lawrence Taylor and Roy Williams. After 40 years of generally meticulous image management and an impending debut on NBC's fresh coverage of the NBA, ol' No. 23 isn't suddenly stooping for a random free football interview on ESPN. …
Pockets of Chicago media appear enthralled with using the word “hate” to describe some attitudes toward second-year Bears QB Caleb Williams. That seems like an excessive hot take about a 23-year-old who spent much of the 2024 NFL season running for his life. Williams will frustrate that posse if he merely manages a strong game vs. the vulnerable Vikings Monday night. …
Northwestern University and its football program continued to rub raw with news that overseers did not allow host Tulane to wear its road white jerseys to honor the 20th anniversary of the Green Wave team that gallantly carried on after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. NU head coach David Braun apologized and Tulane kicked purple tail 23-3. But the Northwestern brand continues in a bizarre down spin. …
Northern Illinois took a shot to the chops in a Washington Post article chronicling Lee Corso's ESPN farewell before Saturday's Texas-Ohio State game. The WaPo mentioned Corso's head coaching turns “at Louisville and Indiana,” leaving out NIU-1984. DeKalb was where Corso got a leg up on a TV career; his Sunday-morning show, co-hosted by Jimmy Piersall and taped in Rockford, aired during the Dennis Swanson-spawned resurgence of WLS-Channel 7. …
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.