Best of The Herd

It’s a Wednesday and everyone’s heated because Bill Belichick didn’t get into the Hall on first shot; he’s getting in, but the voting tweak that lets coaches be eligible in a year while players wait five feels off when Shula and others had to sit.

Take Brady out and the record is ordinary, the offense dipped, and there’s the Super Bowl week stain from taping; call it a one‑year pause, not a denial, especially since plenty of all‑timers didn’t go right in.

How do you take the process seriously when Belichick isn’t automatic, and now you’ve got the side story that Kraft likely goes in while Bill waits after their messy split?

The system’s clunky—limited slots, strange categories—and it should be a straight yes or no with more transparency and more voices from coaches and executives.

The Hall lumped seniors, coaches, and contributors together and let 50 voters pick three; some dinged him over spygate, many assumed he was a lock and cast their votes elsewhere, and that combo produced this surprise.

They taped from the wrong spot for years despite warnings, the league ran a quick probe, smashed tapes, and created a cover‑up perception that later fed the ‘makeup call’ vibe around deflategate, which some peers still resent.

Belichick privately expected about forty‑nine votes and didn’t hit the threshold; voters were stunned when they learned it, and he got a courtesy call not to wait around.

On Sean Payton, the philosophy was to go because they were moving the ball; a run was called, the look changed, timeout, then a rollout that he regrets as the defense shifted to zone, and he wishes he’d stuck with the run or tried the hard count and taken three.

Big picture, Hall voting is messy and the timing’s awkward, but he’s still getting in.

Coaches are older and deserve to go in while they can enjoy it, so comparing their wait to players’ five‑year clock doesn’t fit.

His résumé is undeniable, so I’m asking why he didn’t go in—maybe Kraft’s influence or media access politics—while sign‑stealing was common before headset comms; we even tried the old signal‑match method once after seeing Kansas City, and I’d planned to fly to Canton for him before canceling.

Voters may have assumed he was safe and used their picks to help others, but you still choose the best available—no excuses.

His edge is situational mastery, fundamentals, and command of all three phases with elite game plans on Sundays; whatever the personnel hits and misses, as a pure coach he’s the best I’ve known.

On Darnold, the experience trimmed the turnovers and a great defense lets him play patient, and right now Seattle looks like the Super Bowl favorite.

Mario Cristobal has grown as a head coach, he’s stacked talent through recruiting and the portal, and strong coordinators matter because championships take great players and great assistants.

Love the loyalty, coach; context matters here—Bill rubbed people the wrong way and that can cost a couple votes, but he’ll get his jacket after a year on the couch.