Bill Belichick's Nemesis

The Patriots are already deep into preparations for the undefeated New Orleans Saints, possibly the toughest opponent of the year. Any news outside of their scope of focus is a distraction.

Bill Belichick, the all-knowing head coach, is keeping his team in line. He’s making sure the only things on his players’ minds are black and gold, Drew Brees, Darren Sharper, and the Fleur de Lis.

Not that Belichick is oblivious to what’s going on throughout the league. He constantly keeps an ear to the ground and knows what happens everyday.

One particular bit of news that caught Belichick’s attention is the state of the Buffalo Bills. Already in disarray, Buffalo fired head coach Dick Jauron last week. They named defensive coordinator Perry Fewell interm coach and owner Ralph Wilson said he wants a proven head coach to be the next coach of the Bills. A few names have already been floated around, and one name in particular sent a chill down Belichick’s spine.

Mike Shanahan, Mike Holmgren, and Bill Cowher all have impressive resumes, but it is Shanahan that makes Belichick nervous.

Belichick almost always expresses respect when talking about opposing coaches, players, and teams. (S Anthony Smith is an exception for his 2007 guarantee that his Pittsburgh Steelers would beat the undefeated Patriots. After the win, Belichick dissed Smith saying, “We played (against) better safetys.”) But when talking about Shanahan, Bill’s respect goes to a higher level.

They are coaches from opposite sides of the field. Both are considered geniuses in their respective fields: Bill on defense and Shanahan on offense. And when they coach against each other, it’s a chess match. They are so familiar with each other’s tendencies, they understand how to attack and defend their rival’s schemes. Since Belichick took the New England job, he is 3-4 against Shanahan in the regular season, 0-1 in the playoffs.

The first step towards turning around a franchise is winning the division, particularly the division champs. That’s the objective set by Houston head coach Gary Kubiak. If his Texans can beat the Indianapolis Colts, the team is good enough to beat any team in the league.

That would be true for any team chasing the Patriots in the AFC East. New England remains head and shoulders above the Bills, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets, dominating the division since 2001. The Patriots finished first all but twice since ’01. In both second place finishes, they tied the division leader but lost the tie-breaker.

If any team can knock the Patriots out of the penthouse for good, there’s a good chance that team would be a Super Bowl contending team. With aspirations like that, hiring a coach with a winning record against Belichick seems like the right first step.

Of course people doubt Shanahan. He was at his best when John Elway was the Broncos quarterback. Since Elway retired in 1999, Shanahan is 1-4 in the playoffs.

One thing is for sure. Shanahan would be a huge upgrade over the previous Bills coaches like Jauron, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, and Wade Phillips. Any coach that has the respect of Belichick has mine as well.