Texans Need to Stop Obsessing Over Trying to Replicate What the Patriots Do

The New England Patriots are a one-of-a-kind sports franchise, one that has remained dominant over the last two decades in a manner that has never been seen in the NFL previously. Naturally, every other organization in the league is determined to figure out the secret formula to their sustained success.

At the top of the list of attempted copy-cats is the Houston Texans. Their coaching staff is essentially full of former Bill Belichick disciples: their head coach, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator all formerly held positions with the Patriots. Now, they're in the midst of attempting to poach New England's de facto GM, Nick Caserio.

Now, I'll give Houston this: there's nothing that screams "New England Patriots" like openly breaking the rules, getting caught, and then continuing your efforts under the watchful eye of the league office. But their desperation to be the Pats has so far resulted in just one playoff win during Bill O'Brien's five seasons as head coach.

The problem is that Bill Belichick is too unique to be copied. He's the greatest coach in the history of the game, and he manages to balance that with the responsibility of complete personnel control. When hiring new staff members, Belichick can't be the measuring stick –– because he won't be equaled.

The Texans would be better served not to try to out-Patriots the Patriots, because so far no one has ever won that battle. Just ask Chuck Pagano how trying to outsmart coach Belichick went for him on the famed trick play the Colts tried back in 2015:

In reality, NFL teams may have to accept that the way the Patriots have managed sustained success simply cannot be replicated. As long as there's only one Bill Belichick, teams should find a different prototype to follow.