Brady finished his career with Tampa Bay, winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers, while Belichick coached a couple of more seasons in New England. He was ultimately pushed out of New England by owner Robert Kraft two seasons ago. Belichick is now coaching at the college level at North Carolina.

While it’s been more than five years since Brady and Belichick were together, it’s time to declare a clear winner of their feud.

Many have often debated who was more important to New England’s dynastic run – the head coach or the quarterback? While it’s tough to know 100 percent, we feel comfortable in declaring a winner on Sunday morning, September 21, 2025.

Brady is the clear winner

Brady, not Belichick, was clearly more important to New England’s success. Brady helped lead the Patriots to six Super Bowl wins. He then left for Tampa Bay and immediately won a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers.

Belichick, meanwhile, could barely get New England to the playoffs without Brady. He’s now coaching at the college football level, after failing to land an NFL head coaching job, and it’s not going very well.

The legendary NFL head coach has the Tar Heels at 2-2 on the season, following Saturday’s 34-9 loss to UCF.

I think it’s safe to say Tom Brady made Bill Belichick

— Kyle Collinsworth (@collinsworth55) September 21, 2025

Maybe both Brady and Belichick needed each other, and neither would have had the success they did without the other one, but at this point, it’s clear that the great quarterback is probably more important than the great coach.