Robert Kraft explains why he had to ‘fire’ Bill Belichick

Last January, the Patriots phrased Belichick's departure as a parting of ways. Now, Robert Kraft says it was a firing.

During a recent interview on The Breakfast Club, Patriots owner Robert Kraft said he fired coach Bill Belichick.

At the time, the Patriots said Belichick and the team had ‘mutually’ agreed to part ways.

The decision wasn’t so mutual on Belichick’s part, Kraft said.

“I kept him for 24 years,” Kraft said. “I didn’t enjoy having to fire him, but I tried to do it – if you look at the press conference and how it happened, tried to do it in a classy way.”

“What he did for us was great. People need to adapt,” Kraft added. “People need to adapt and if they don’t, things can change. In life, it’s about getting good chemistry and trust and I feel that our record the last three or four years wasn’t what I wanted.”

The Patriots held a press conference announcing the decision to move on from Belichick last January at Gillette Stadium. Kraft and Belichick both made statements. Belichick did not take questions from the media at the event. Kraft returned after Belichick had left to field questions from the press.

Kraft said, at the time, that it was an amicable split. Belichick said he will carry the memories of coaching the Patriots with him for the rest of his life. Kraft lauded Belichick as the best coach in NFL history.

“Coach Belichick will forever be celebrated as a legendary sports icon here in New England,” Kraft said at the time. “And I believe he will go in as a Pro Football Hall of Famer on the first ballot. Why? Because he is the greatest coach of all-time, which makes this decision to part ways so hard.”

“But this is a move that we mutually agreed is needed at this time,” Kraft said. “What Bill accomplished with us, in my opinion, will never be replicated, and the fact that it was done in the salary cap and free agency era makes it even more extraordinary.”

Belichick appeared to lose his effectiveness after Tom Brady left the Patriots. The Patriots went 29-38 under Belichick in the post-Brady years. The winning percentage of 43 percent during that period is well below Belichick’s career average of 64.5 percent.

“I had given him so much power,” Kraft said. “He had full control over everything, and shame on me, I should have had some checks and balances better. But, he had earned that right. But then the results weren’t there and if you’re in the sports business you win or you lose, there’s no gray and I hate losing.”

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.