‘Do your job’.
Over the last two decades, those three words have been ubiquitous within one of the greatest sporting dynasties in history.
The phrase has embodied Bill Belichick’s tenure as the New England Patriots head coach, but it could’ve just as easily referenced Sir Alex Ferguson’s fruitful reign at Manchester United.
The similarities between Ferguson and Belichick run deep.
Both overcame difficult starts to their managerial careers to dominate their respective sports for over two decades.
Sir Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies in an unprecedented 27-year reign at Manchester United
Meanwhile, Bill Belichick won a record six Super Bowls in charge of the New England Patriots
After cutting his teeth at St Mirren, Ferguson broke the Old Firm duopoly to win three league titles with Aberdeen and led the Dons to European glory in 1983.
Belichick bounced around the NFL in a variety of assistant roles, before putting down roots in New York and winning two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator with the Giants.
When Ferguson arrived at Old Trafford in 1986, United were 19 years into a title drought.
By the time he left in 2013, they had won the league 13 times, along with two Champions League titles and a further nine domestic trophies.
Belichick arrived in New England in 2000 to take the reins of a team that had reached the Super Bowl twice in its 40-year history.
In the next 18 years the Pats made it to the Super Bowl nine times and lifted the Vince Lombardi trophy on six occasions. Belichick alone has won more Super Bowl titles than any other NFL franchise bar the Pittsburgh Steelers.
When his two titles as offensive coordinator are included, he stands alone as the most successful team in American football’s history. Team, not coach or player.
Manchester United legends Mark Hughes (left) and Roy Keane (right) were pillars of Ferguson’s teams but failed to replicate their success as players when they stepped into management
Paul Ince (left) and Bryan Robson (right) were key figures at Manchester United under Ferguson – but both Red Devils icons won just under 40 percent of their matches as managers
Treble-winning hero Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (left) won two titles in Norway but the Old Trafford job always seemed too big for him. He was sacked in 2021 after just two years in charge
Gary Neville won just three of his 16 matches in charge of Valencia in a disastrous spell
Both Ferguson and Belichick ruled with an iron fist and were as ruthless with friends as they were with foes. Both enjoyed unprecedented, era-defining success with the Scot bowing out at the top, a luxury Belichick is unlikely to enjoy.
That sustained success, however, has seldom trickled down. In fact, stepping into the coaching world has been a brutal experience for most of their protégés.
Over 40 of Ferguson’s players from his combined 35 years at Aberdeen and United followed him into management. None of them came remotely close to match his achievements.
David Healy, who made three senior appearances for United under Ferguson, is the most successful of the crop.
The 44-year-old has won five league titles in eight years with Linfield and has lifted four more domestic trophies with the Northern Irish giants.
Laurent Blanc, who spent two years at United towards the end of his career, won four Ligue 1 titles between 2009 and 2016 – one with Bordeaux and three with Paris Saint-Germain.
Gordon Strachan, who played under Ferguson at both Aberdeen and United, won three titles at Celtic. Alex McLeish, his former team-mate at Pittodrie, won two league titles with Rangers and lifted five more trophies during his spell at Ibrox.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won two titles with Molde, but the United job always seemed too big for him.
Behind them, the cupboard is relatively bare.
Steve Bruce, Roy Keane, Bryan Robson and Mark Hughes have both managed in the Premier League and lower down the football pyramid to varying degrees of success.
Of the quartet, Ince has the highest winning percentage as manager at just a shade north of 39 percent.
Ferguson won 10 major trophies with Aberdeen, including the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983
Belichick (right) won two Super Bowls with the New York Giants as defensive coordinator
Of the 40+ former players who followed Ferguson into management, David Healy (above) is the most successful among them, winning an admirable five titles in Northern Ireland with Linfield
Mark Robins has done a superb job at Coventry but is yet to manager in the top flight, while the jury remains out on Michael Carrick, Ruud van Nistlerooy and Wayne Rooney.
Gary Neville won just three of his 16 matches in charge of Valencia, while his brother Phil enjoyed a relatively successful spell in charge of the Lionesses but has hitherto failed to replicate the form at club level.
‘When you think of all the great names that have played for Sir Alex and gone into management, I’m a bit surprised by that, to be honest,’ Healy told ESPN last year.
Even including Ferguson’s former assistants doesn’t particularly move the dial.
Steve McLaren won the Eredivisie with Twente and the League Cup with Middlesbrough, but is mostly remembered – perhaps ungenerously so – for his ill-fated spell in charge of England.
Brian Kidd and Mike Phelan both endured unsuccessful spells across the Premier League, while most of Carlos Queiroz’s success came before his two spells at Old Trafford.
Liverpool had the Boot Room, Carlo Ancelotti was one of Arrigo Sacchi’s disciples at AC Milan and eventually went on to surpass his achievements.
Shaped by Johan Cruyff at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola has perfected the Dutchman’s footballing philosophy with Mikel Arteta and Xavi following in the same path.
Succeeding without Ferguson, however, seems as difficult for his former players as it has been for United themselves.
It is a curious dynamic and one replicated in the NFL, where Belichick’s coaching tree has delivered similarly mediocre fruits.
Al Groh (left) and Bill O’Brien (right) are the only former Belichick’s assistants two to have won over 50 percent of their games as head coaches
Ten of Belichick’s former assistants have landed head coaching jobs in the past 23 years and their combined wins/losses/ties records stand at 219-306-2.
To put the figure into context, Belichick’s career record of 301 wins and 163 losses as of December 20 this year.
Al Groh and Bill O’Brien are the only two of his former assistants to have won over 50 percent of their games as head coaches.
The former went 9-7 in his solitary season in charge of the New York Jets in 2000, while the latter compiled a 52-48 record in seven seasons with the Houston Texans.
Josh McDaniels transformed the Patriots offence as offensive coordinator, but has failed spectacularly as head coach in Denver and Las Vegas.
Likewise, Matt Patricia was a success as defensive coordinator, but only won 13 games in two seasons as head coach in Detroit.
Joe Judge’s tenure at the Giants returned 10 wins in two years, while Romeo Crennel had one winning season in five years as head coach.
Belichick has reached the Super Bowl 12 times in his career, but members of his coaching tree have only made it to the playoffs a combined six times with just three wins to show for it.
All of Belichick’s Super Bowl wins with the Patriots came with Tom Brady (left) at quarterback
The landscape is similarly underwhelming among Belichick’s former players.
Matt Vrabel, who won three Super Bowls in his eight seasons with the Patriots, has a 53-43 career record as head coach and took the Tennessee Titans to the playoffs for three straight seasons.
Kliff Kingsbury took the Arizona Cardinals to the playoffs in 2021 but won just 43 percent of his games in charge over four seasons, while Kevin O’Connell led the Minnesota Vikings to the postseason last year in his debut season as head coach.
Nick Saban, who worked under Belichick as defensive coordinator in Cleveland, remains the major outlier.
Saban won just under 50 percent of his 32 matches in charge over two seasons with the Miami Dolphins, but is a bonafide college football legend courtesy of winning a record seven national titles with LSU and Alabama.
Sure, having Tom Brady at quarterback helped – as the Patriots themselves found out over the last four seasons – but the lack of success among Belichick’s disciples has long been source of bewilderment in the NFL.
Perhaps, however, it should not be a surprise after all.
Both Belichick and Ferguson ran – and in the former’s case still do – their teams as coaches and de facto general managers, effectively empowering them as the sole decision-makers.
Crucially, neither was wedded to a particularly strict tactical philosophy.
Matt Patricia (left) won just 13 games over two seasons as head coach of the Detroit Lions, while Josh McDaniels (right) was fired by both the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders
Nick Saban has won a record seven national titles in college football with LSU and Alabama
Ferguson’s attacking 4-4-2 gave way to a more pragmatic 4-5-1 later in his career, while Belichick has never been afraid to adapt on the fly and tweaking concepts of his preferred 3-4 defensive scheme.
It’s what makes following in their footsteps so difficult for those who have played or coached under them. The key intangibles are missing.
‘Those who follow. That’s important,’ Bill Parcells, Belichick’s mentor at the Giants, famously said.
But not even serial winners like Ferguson and Belichick seem to have achieved that. Victims, perhaps of their own incomparable success.
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