Unreasonable doubt: The Bill Belichick HOF snub

Bill Belichick being denied first-ballot enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a travesty, of course. Belichick's credentials are indisputable — including eight Super Bowl championships, with six as a head coach. Let's put it this way: Belichick's record in the nine seasons between Super Bowl victories from 2005-13 would be first-ballot worthy — a 110-34 record (including an historic 16-0 season in 2007), eight playoff appearances (the only miss was an 11-5 season without Tom Brady in 2008), nine playoff victories and two AFC championships.

But while his credentials are indisputable, they are not unassailable. So while it's shameful that Belichick is not a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it's not inexplicable. There are no good reasons to keep Belichick out of the Hall of Fame, but Belichick himself gave voters a bad reason to keep him out of the Hall of Fame, and they took it.

The "Spygate" and "Deflategate" scandals, though hardly disqualifying, were damaging to Belichick's reputation. Belichick was a genius at strategy on multiple levels, including using loopholes to his advantage. But he got caught going over the line on two occasions, which legitimized doubt about Belichick's uncanny ability to come up with the right play at the right time — if he got caught with Spygate and Deflategate, what else was he doing that didn't get caught? That's a fair question.

And those scandals — however legitimate you think they are — opened the door for other, much more flimsy, issues with Belichick to become part of the debate for anyone looking for a reason to screw Bill Belichick:

• His only success came with Tom Brady. In fact, Brady won a Super Bowl without Belichick. Robert Kraft now has made the Super Bowl without Belichick. But without Brady (or Kraft), Belichick has been just another coach struggling to win football games. (That NFL teams passed on the chance to hire Belichick since he left the Patriots was an indicator that Belichick's role in the Patriots' success was not as respected as you would think.)

• Belichick was uncooperative with the media throughout his coaching career. This absolutely should not be a factor in any Hall of Fame debate, and it might not have been a factor here. But human nature being what it is, it certainly can be a factor — whether you're a reporter or a construction worker, no one forgets anyone who makes their job tougher. At least 33 of the 50 voters for the Pro Football Hall of Fame are current or former media members.

• Belichick's NFL coaching tree is unimpressive at best. Bill O'Brien (52-48) made the playoffs four times in seven seasons with the Texans from 2014-20, but that modest success is the best of any Belichick disciple. Nick Saban (15-17), Brian Flores (24-25) had Al Groh (9-7) had winning seasons, but none lasted more than three seasons. The rest: Eric Mangini (33-47), Josh McDaniels (20-33), Romeo Crennel (32-63), Matt Patricia (13-29-1), Joe Judge (10-23) and Brian Daboll (20-40-1). The most successful NFL coach with Belichick ties — current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel — never coached for Belichick.

It bears repeating that all of these should have no impact on Bill Belichick's Hall of Fame credentials. But if you resent Belichick crossing the line of fair play in the name of gamesmanship or competitive-advantage to maximize his success, they become a convenient crutch to support your argument. Bill Belichick as a Hall of

Fame candidate is like a Super Bowl favorite that makes just enough mistakes to give the officials a chance to screw them.

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