Bill Belichick: 'There Is No Quarterback I'd Rather Have Than Tom Brady'

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said there's still "no other quarterback I'd rather have than Tom Brady," two days ahead of his first ever matchup against his quarterback of 20 years.

During Belichick's Friday (October 1) Zoom call with reporters, the six-time Super Bowl champion was asked if he believes he would've had the same success without Brady in New England, which he answered with an emphatic, "no."

“Of course not,” Belichick said via CBS Boston. “We talked about that for two decades. I think I have been on the record dozens of times saying there is no quarterback I’d rather have than Tom Brady. I still feel that way.

“I was very lucky to have Tom as quarterback and to coach him,” Belichick added. “He was as good as any coach could ever ask for.”

Earlier in the week, Belichick addressed questions about his relationship with the 44-year-old quarterback amid continued reports of a rift leading to Brady departing from New England after 20 seasons in March 2020.

"Yeah, I think it's good," Belichick said. "It's always been good."

The coach's comments come amid an excerpt from ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's upcoming book It's Better to be Feared on the Patriots' dynasty being shared by ESPN this week, which includes information about the dynamic between Brady, Belichick and Kraft leading up to the legendary quarterback's departure.

The excerpt showed that Brady decided to leave New England not only because both Belichick and Kraft refused to commit to him through his stated goal of playing through age 45, but also because he wanted to be part of an organization that listened to his ideas, rather than ignore them.

"Tom Brady had been curious if there was another way of winning, and while nobody was arguing that Bruce Arians was a better coach than Bill Belichick, or even close, the seamlessness of Brady's proficiency and performance was making his former coach's methodologies look antiquated, even silly," the book says. "It was better to be feared -- but was it necessary?"

Additionally, Brady's longtime trainer Alex Guerrero's criticized Belichick as having "never evolved" in how he treated the seven-time Super Bowl champion during their 20 seasons together last week, which Brady, himself, downplayed.

"Everybody has protective feelings and emotions as friends and family members and that's just part of being in sports," Brady said during his weekly press conference Thursday (September 23), via the Buccaneers' official website. "You have a lot of people who, because they're not out there, they want to protect, and it's a very caring, loving thing that a lot of people do, but from my standpoint, I had a great time [in New England], but really, my focus has been trying to be the best I can be for this team, trying to go out and be a winning quarterback, to be a championship-level quarterback for this team and this organization because they certainly deserve it. I made a commitment to them and I want to live up to it."

During an interview with the Boston Herald on Wednesday (September 22), Guerrero said Belichick's "emotions or feeling never evolved with age" when discussing Brady's departure from the team during the 2020 offseason.

"As Tom got into his late 30s or early 40s, I think Bill was still trying to treat him like that 20-year-old kid that he drafted," Guerrero said. :And all the players, I think, realized Tom was different. He's older, so he should be treated differently. And all the players, none of them would have cared that he was treated differently.

"I think that was such a Bill thing. He never evolved. So you can't treat someone who's in his 40s like they're 20. It doesn't work."

Guerrero's comments came 11 days before Brady's long-awaited return to Foxborough when his new team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, face the Patriots at Gillette Stadium on October 3.

Brady's father, Tom Brady Sr. discussed the upcoming Sunday Night Football matchup with longtime Patriots reporter Tom E. Curran for NBC Sports Boston and said his son felt vindicated winning his seventh Super Bowl as a member of the Buccaneers in February after the New England opted to allow him to test free agency in March 2020 after 20 seasons with the team, even acknowledging a reported rift between the quarterback and Belichick.

“Damn right,” Brady Sr. said ahead of his son's upcoming return to Gillette Stadium on October 3. “Damn rights. Belichick wanted him out the door, and last year he threw [50] touchdowns. I think that’s a pretty good year.”

Though people close to the Brady may be addressing a possible rift with Belichick, the quarterback spoke highly of his former organization.

"I have great respect and admiration for my time [with the Patriots]," Brady said Thursday. "I had 20 great years there. I kind of spoke that the last 18 months. It was a great time in my life, but I'm really happy to be here and I think we've done some great things in a short period of time. I really love the teammates that I have that I'm playing with here. I love the coaches, the organization's been amazing. Again, it's just a lot of gratitude for me."

The seven-time Super Bowl champion will likely break Drew Brees' NFL record of 80,358 passing yards during his return to Gillette Stadium, which served as his home for 20 NFL seasons before joining the Buccaneers in March 2020.

Brady trails the all-time passing record by just 67 yards entering Sunday's game.

Both teams will be looking to bounce back from disappointing performances in Week 3, with the Patriots coming off a 28-13 loss at home to the New Orleans Saints.