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After the Boston Celtics suffered a bad playoff loss, head coach Joe Mazzulla earned comparisons to Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots

It was an incredibly frustrating ending to a surprisingly good season for the Boston Celtics, blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Philadelphia 76ers. Now, head coach Joe Mazzulla is earning some less than favorable comparisons to former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.

In particular, Mazzulla and Belichick are being compared for arguably being the best coaches in their respective leagues, but getting too cute with their lineups in a big moment. For Mazzulla, it was Game 7. For Belichick, the Super Bowl. Evan Cormier of NESN explained.

“I can’t be the only one who immediately thought of New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick benching starting cornerback Malcolm Butler in Super Bowl LII when I saw the starting lineup Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla decided to roll out in Game 7 of the first-round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers,” Cormier wrote.

Malcolm Butler was and is a Super Bowl hero for the Patriots. So, when Belichick benched him prior to Super Bowl LII, it raised some eyebrows. The Patriots went on to lose, despite a historically great performance from Tom Brady, as the defense couldn’t get a stop. In the end, Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles threw for 373 yards and 3 touchdowns while Butler sat on the bench. Arguably, it was a decision by Belichick that cost the Patriots another Super Bowl, and then Mazzulla may have followed in his footsteps with his lineup for Game 7.

“But on the biggest stage, in the most can’t-lose game in Celtics history, Mazzulla flew too close to the sun and cost his team and this city a shot at the NBA Championship,” Cormier continued. “The head coach decided to roll out a starting lineup that had never started a game together before for no reason other than he thought he was smarter than the 76ers.”

The Ending Was Ugly for Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots

There is no doubt that Bill Belichick is not just the best coach in New England Patriots history, but one of the two or three best coaches in NFL history. Many would argue he is the single best, with his six Super Bowl wins. So, it was disappointing for many fans when things ended ugly in New England between Belichick and the Kraft family.

However, things had clearly taken a downturn for the Patriots under Belichick. That went back to the parting with Tom Brady, who went on to win another Super Bowl without his former head coach. Meanwhile, the Patriots drafted Mac Jones, who busted as Brady’s replacement.

Throughout his tenure in New England, Belichick had been known for making eyebrow-raising personnel choices. That included moving on from talented players just past their expiration date as elite talents and finding under-the-radar talent. However, decisions like benching Butler and letting Brady walk were starting to backfire.

After Belichick and the Patriots parted ways after the 2023 season, he wasn’t shy from making it clear that he was unhappy. That has popped up a lot at North Carolina, where as the Tar Heels head coach, he’s banned Patriots scouts and even briefly wasn’t allowing the social media team to promote former Tar Heel Drake Maye.

Bill Belichick Got a Brutal Prediction for the 2026 Season at UNC

Now at North Carolina, Bill Belichick is hoping to have another life as a college coach. However, the 2025 season was a rough one, as he went 4-8 despite the promotions for UNC being that they’d be the 33rd NFL team.

With some experience at UNC and coaching in college now under his belt, Belichick needs to turn things around. That won’t be easy, though, and he recently got a brutal prediction laid at his feet for next season.

Cody Nagel of CBS Sports explained that he thinks it’ll be a long season for Belichick. In particular, the Tar Heels deal with a brutal schedule.

“Expectations aren’t high in Chapel Hill entering Year 2 of the Bill Belichick era. FanDuel sets the win total at just 4.5, with North Carolina carrying the third-worst ACC title odds. The schedule doesn’t help. Six games come against projected top-half ACC teams, plus a tough non-conference slate that starts with TCU in Dublin, Ireland, and also includes Notre Dame. And that Dublin opener matters. The last four teams to lose the opener there haven’t finished above .500 in the same season. Not exactly a trend UNC wants to test,” Nagel wrote.

North Carolina and Belichick open their season in Dublin against TCU on August 29th. Meanwhile, the Patriots will find out their schedule when its released in May.