But Belichick sucked and forgot how to coach after two subpar seasons and one First Round draft bust.
Don Shula isn't quite as stark, but he had peaks and valleys as well (though to Shula's credit, he had a much less stable roster over the span of his coaching career).
That's the thing. The Steelers had 10 HOF'ers that were all on the roster for all four Super Bowls in the '70s:
- "Mean Joe" Greene (whose real name I recently learned is Charles) (drafted #4 overall in 1969)
- Terry Bradshaw (#1 overall in 1970)
- Mel Blount (#53 overall in 1970)
- Jack Ham (#34 overall in 1971)
- Franco Harris (#13 overall in 1972)
- Lynn Swann (#21 overall in 1974)
- Jack Lambert (#46 overall in 1974)
- John ("don't call me Donte") Stallworth (#82 overall in 1974)
- Mike Webster (#125 overall in 1974)
- Donnie Shell (undrafted in 1974)
In addition, you had pivotal players like Gerry Mullins, Rocky Bleier and L.C. Greenwood who were around for all four Super Bowl seasons (and Mike Wagner for the first three).
They were already on their way with the '72 season (that ended with a narrow loss to the undefeated Dolphins following the "Immaculate Reception" game), but that '74 draft put them over the top.Obviously, it was a different time in terms of roster turnover, but that's some incredible consistency (that Shula didn't have in the latter part of his career and Belicheck never had). I think any of us could have won with that roster.