New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media before an NFL football practice, Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, in Foxborough, Mass. The Los Angeles Rams are to play the New England Patriots in Super Bowl 53 on Feb. 3, in Atlanta, Ga. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Let’s talk about Vince Lombardi for a second.
Lombardi is best known for his time as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In his nine years at the helm of the Packers Lombardi won five NFL championships in six appearances. Yes, that’s certainly impressive, but come on, have you seen what 1960’s-era football even looked like? Isn’t exactly the same sport as today’s football.
That’s not just me and my enjoyment of bashing old-timey sports. But trust me that that’s certainly one of my past times. I think Babe Ruth stinks, I think any basketball game filmed in black-and-white is nothing less than hilarious to watch.
Nevertheless, the NFL is really different in this age. Today’s football takes hours of watching film, dissecting defenses, X’s and O’s and so much more. It’s a game of numbers and research. It’s all down to a science. You can’t get away with raw talent like you could back then, coaching is so important in this NFL.
And no one’s been better at coaching than Bill Belichick. Let’s break down the numbers.
Belichick has seven Super Bowl rings. Five as head coach of the New England Patriots and two as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants. Belichick will be heading to his ninth Super Bowl this Sunday. He has won nine AFC Championships as head coach, the closest behind him is Miami’s former head coach Don Shula with five.
Since the 1984-1985 season, the winners of the AFC Championship have received the Lamar Hunt Trophy. Hunt established the American Football League in 1959, which would later be known as the AFC. The NFC Trophy is named the George Halas Trophy, Halas was a longtime owner and coach of the Chicago Bears.
So, the Super Bowl trophy is named after a coach. The NFC Trophy is named after a coach. The AFC Trophy is named after the guy who founded the AFL? Belichick has nine of those AFC Trophies, his name deserves to be on it.
If I was a greedy man, I would be asking for the renaming of the Lombardi Trophy. Technically, Lombardi only won TWO Super Bowls in his five championships (1966 and 1967). Belichick surpassed the former head coach with the most Super Bowls, Chuck Noll (who had four), back in 2017 with his win over the Falcons. He has a chance to add to his lead Sunday.
When all is said and done, Belichick’s name should be engraved on ONE of those trophies.
Connor Donahue is the digital editor for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at connor.f.donahue@uconn.edu. He tweets at @conn_donahue.
