Robert Kraft provides details on how decision to hire Bill O'Brien took place with Bill Belichick

BOSTON -- Early in Robert Kraft's tenure as owner of his hometown New England Patriots, he could have been described as a "hands-on" owner. Then-head coach Bill Parcells might have used a different descriptor.

The point was, Kraft bent the ears of his front office in the '90s, leading to a discord with the head coach, who planned his own departure from New England while ... preparing to lead the Patriots into the Super Bowl. 

Kraft, though, learned from those early missteps, and he's often discussed the leadership strategy he applies to all of his businesses. Kraft tries to hire quality leaders, give them autonomy to run the businesses as they see fit, and reap the rewards of a successful partnership.

Still, the owner of a company -- or team, in this case -- has to step in at times. And this year, after a failed experiment by Bill Belichick to implement Matt Patricia and Joe Judge as the Patriots' top offensive coaches, Kraft felt it was one of those times.

The 81-year-old Kraft was a guest on "Cavuto: Coast To Coast" on Fox Business on Friday, and he explained what went into the changes to the coaching staff made this offseason.

"Well, everyone manages in a different way. I can only speak for myself. I try to hire the best people I can," Kraft said. "I give them accountability, full authority to do as they please, hold them accountable. But if things aren't going the way I'd like, we meet in private and have our discussions and make changes. It's something we've done this year. I'm very happy that we were able to bring in a new offensive coordinator to help develop our young quarterback Mac Jones. I think bringing in Bill O'Brien has been a big plus for our franchise. And that was done in full cooperation with Coach Belichick. I'm very excited about our team for next year."

It's not a surprising revelation, as Belichick himself said that he'd be willing to shoulder all the blame if his unorthodox approach to building a coaching staff last year did not pan out the way he envisioned. Nevertheless, it provides a little peek behind the curtain to understand how, why and when those changes took place shortly after the Patriots' season ended.

Kraft was also asked about Tom Brady, and the man who considers Brady part of his family unsurprisingly hopes to honor the quarterback as much as possible in New England.

"I think I had been doing an interview and someone asked me whether I'd be willing to [give Brady a one-day contract with the Patriots], and I said absolutely," Kraft said. " And of course it's whatever Tommy wants. But in the end, we hope to have him back for many years in the future. I know all of our fans want to thank him and celebrate the greatness that he brought to our franchise for two decades. And we want to do it in a respectful way."

Kraft praised Brady as "just one of the most outstanding people I've ever met" while noting how fortunate the Patriots were to employ him for 20 years.

"When you think about it, the NFL has been in business for over 100 years. And we've had the privilege with the -- I don't know if it's 50,000 players in the history [of the league] -- we had the pleasure and honor to have the greatest of all time, who has won seven Super Bowls, which no other team or individual has ever done."

Kraft also said that despite Brady leaving for the Buccaneers in 2020, "he's a New England Patriot" and "he will always be." With that in mind, Kraft was asked if he had reached out to offer Brady his job back in New England for the forthcoming season. Considering that would constitute tampering, Kraft obviously didn't give a detailed answer. Instead, Kraft chose to take the opportunity to publicly declare his faith in the quarterback who is under contract with New England.

"We're blessed to have a great young quarterback in Mac Jones as our quarterback, and I'm a strong believer in him and his development," Kraft said.

Considering the show aired on FOX Business, the conversation naturally steered toward the dollars and cents part of the league. Kraft said that he has no input on the ongoing sale of the Washington Commanders but believes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos would make "a great owner" if he ends up winning the bid.

As for potentially selling the Patriots, Kraft said that he won't ever do it.

"No. After my family, the New England Patriots is the most important thing in my life," Kraft stated. "It's not a business. It's really part of my family, it's part of the community. If we do well, it makes the whole region better. It's just, I love being in the locker room, being around the players. I just pinch myself that I've been so privileged to own a franchise in my hometown. The good Lord was very kind to allow that to happen. And I'm never selling it. We've set it up so it hopefully stays in the family for many decades to come."