Thursday, as the Patriots trotted onto the field at MetLife Stadium, Bill Belichick wasn’t there to coach against the Jets.
The whole time, Digger Phelps kept staring at the other bench, and after awhile it became distracting. Here he was, carnation in lapel, a full house at Pauley Pavilion, a national TV audience — exactly the kind of moment he lived for his entire professional life — and he had to keep reminding himself:John Wooden had retired the previous March. He was in the building, but he wasn’t on the bench. Gene Bartow was.
The last time the Jets played the Patriots and someone other than Belichick was coaching them, it was Nov. 15, 1999. The Jets won, 24-17, a Monday night game at old Foxboro Stadium. In a wonderfully symmetrical set of circumstances, that helped grease the skids for Pete Carroll’s exit from New England, which opened the door there for Belichick — who was actually on the field that night, coaching the Jets defense.
After the game that dropped him to 0-3 against the Jets, Belichick had said, “We play in the same division as they do. At some point, we’re going to have to figure out how to beat them.” And that he did. He won 39 of the last 47 games he coached against the Jets. He won the last eight times they met in New Jersey,Belichick left behind six championships in New England, and he left behind scorched earth in East Rutherford. So, yes, when Jerod Mayo led the Patriots on the field Thursday night in the Jets home opener, it looked strange for a few minutes, and it’ll take awhile to fully get used to that.
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