Situation Resolved - Au Revoir, Bill

The New England Patriots and coach Bill Belichick by 'mutual agreement' parted ways earlier today. Shank had this column done and posted a few minutes after the first noontime press conference had finished.

It’s Belichick and Auerbach, then everyone else when it comes to New England coaching greatness

Bill Belichick and Red Auerbach are the greatest two coaches in New England sports history.

By a mile.

Belichick and Auerbach are gold and silver. Or silver and gold. It’s not even worth talking about candidates for the bronze medal platform. One could argue Terry Francona, Harry Sinden, Dick Williams, Milt Schmidt, Tommy Heinsohn, Bill Parcells, Chuck Fairbanks, Claude Julien, Jimmy Collins, Bill Carrigan, and Joe Cronin. You get silly and make a case for Bobby Valentine and Clive Rush if you insist.

It does not matter.

It’s Bill and Red.

There is no other.

Belichick and Auerbach were the bookend builders of our two great sports dynasties ― the 1950s-60s Celtics, and the 21st century Patriots.

Since this was mostly written in advance, we'll probably see more Belichick / Patriots columns in the upcoming days. I fully expect one of those columns to place most or all of the blame for this separation on Robert Kraft.