It was 27 years ago – almost to the day, on Feb. 5, 1991 – that Bill Belichick was hired as head coach of the Browns.

I wonder if, in a moment removed from all the disgust and disappointment of his New England Patriots having lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52 last Sunday, Belichick has thought about that long-ago day – that long-ago time – in Cleveland as he watched Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, his offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, head out the door to become head coaches themselves.

McDaniels, who has all kinds of Northeast Ohio ties, is going to the Indianapolis Colts, while Patricia, who seems to have all kinds of that Northeast Ohio type of grit and want-to, is on his way to the Detroit Lions.

McDaniels has been an NFL head coach before, with the Denver Broncos, but he didn’t go well at all. Patricia is a first-timer.

Belichick can identify with both of them.

Like McDaniels, who was with the Pats before he left for Denver and then returned to them when he was fired, Belichick was fired – in Cleveland – and had to wait for a second chance to prove himself. And prove himself he did.

But while Belichick did a lot better with the Browns than McDaniels did with the Patriots, there was still no expectation at all that Belichick would flourish when the Pats hired him in 2000. Belichick clicked – and then some – the second time because he took to heart the lessons he learned in Cleveland.

Belichick came to the Browns as the hotshot young defensive coordinator of two Super Bowl-winning teams with the New York Giants in a five-year period. Patricia doesn’t have that kind of resume or reputation, but he is generally regarded as the best young defensive coordinator in the game.

You have to believe that, for those two different reasons, both Patricia and McDaniels picked Belichick’s brain before they departed. Wonder what the NFL’s best all-time head coach told them, if anything?

We may never know.

Or will we?