Patriots’ HC Bill Belichick Remains A Cut Above His Peers By Keeping His Own Counsel

Throughout his 46-year coaching career, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has never ceased to be a student of the game.

Some consider imitation to be the sincerest form of flattery. However, for New England Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick, it might just be criticism that most notably marks the respect he has earned to further his legend. In the process, it also seems to create a bit of jealousy among his peers throughout the league.

Still, assessment from outside sources will never be enough to sway Belichick from his core beliefs. Through it all, the 69-year-old Patriots head coach stays true to who he is; regardless of outside opinion.

In the Patriots’ 14-10 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Monday night, Belichick and his coaching staff have been largely lauded for enacting a strategy which enabled his team to win a hotly-contested, intra-divisional matchup in harsh weather conditions. New England utilized the size and strength of its offensive line to facilitate their power run game to pace their offense.

On the defensive side of the ball, Belichick helped to devise a scheme which held the Bills’ run game in check, while taking Bills’ quarterback Josh Allen out of his comfort zone. New England’s pass rush forced Allen to step up in the pocket, rather than allowing him to maneuver outside of it; which is where Buffalo’s quarterback is at his best. The plan resulted in Allen finishing the night with a 20.4 QBR, throwing for 145 yards and one touchdown.

As such, the Patriots walked away with the victory, maintaining their lead in both the AFC East, as well as the AFC overall; all while having rookie quarterback Mac Jones attempt only three passes for the entire game.

Why you may ask? The answer is simple. Bill Belichick always keeps his own counsel.

Game Preparation 101 with Professor Belichick

Belichick’s detractors undoubtedly lament the credit which he is receiving for his gutsy, yet incredibly effective strategy on Monday night. They will point to a pair of Allen’s incompleted red zone passes as the sole reason for New England’s win. It is possible that the word ‘lucky’ will be a commonly-used adjective surrounding the Pats’ Week Thirteen fate.

While it is true that the Pats took a cautious approach with their passing game strategy on Monday, their running game was working far too well to justify abandoning it. In getting superb blocking from their offensive line, the Pats backs ran with patience and strength that more-often-than-not prevented negative plays. The Bills’ defense never seemed to make the necessary adjustments to push the Pats into obvious passing situations. Therefore, the Pats continued to stick with its ‘run first, run hard, no mercy’ strategy. In true Belichickian fashion, they did so even when sportswriters, talking heads and fans seeking style points believed they should have mixed in a pass or two.

Ironically, and most importantly, they will conveniently ignore the success with which Belichick’s defensive strategy turned Allen’s strengths into weaknesses. By taking away his ability to extend plays by escaping out of the pocket, Belichick’s defense dared Allen to step up into the pocket and focus on his reads down field. Because Allen rarely did so, he was largely ineffective for much of the night.

For those still continuing to whine about his being praised, remember that successful coaches are always those that are better prepared, and enable their players to play smarter than their opponents. Bill Belichick and the Patriots did both better than their competition on Monday, and deserve the accolades for it. 

After all, it is this type of meticulous focus that makes Belichick who he is. 

A Student-Teacher of the Game

Bill Belichick’s prowess as an NFL head coach requires no embellishment. His enshrinement in Canton became a mere formality long ago. However, the sustained success with which he has guided the Patriots over the past two-plus decades remains his greatest mystique. Whether he is praised as a ‘defensive genius’ or playfully mocked as a ‘diabolical manipulator,’ Belichick has reached the top of the coaching plateau for one, simple reason. He has never ceased to be a student of the game.

Bill Belichick is renowned for his penchant for watching and examining game film. While some will read this sentence through the delusional lens of “Spygate” falsehoods, Belichick’s ability to break down game strategy is second to none. Since entering the league as a low-level assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975, he has used each and every opportunity to increase his knowledge of football. In the 43 years since, his appetite for improvement has only become more voracious. Whether it be on the field, or in the media room, Belichick is always watching and learning. One needs not look further for a better reason why the Patriots so often seem to be a step ahead of their competition.

In addition to studying film, Belichick is also a master at football reconnaissance. Many of his friends in the business have likened football discussions with him as ‘benign brain-picking.’ Whether it be his curiosity regarding one of their recent draft picks, or seeking an opinion on a rule interpretation, his conversational battery-mate can be sure of one thing: Bill Belichick has come into the discussion having done his homework.

However, his thirst for knowledge is not what has made Belichick the longest-tenured head coach in the NFL today. It is his ability to put that knowledge into practice. On the field, the student becomes the teacher with an unparalleled effectiveness. Belichick is not afraid to impart his concepts with monotonous repetition, until it is ingrained deep into his players’ bones. His players will frequently practice basic hand techniques and foot placements. They will become experts on ways to bat down a pass, shed a blocker, or gain leverage. Simply put, they will do so until they get it right. Over the past 21 years, the Patriots have routinely been one of the most disciplined, and fundamentally sound teams in the NFL. That starts at the top, with their head coach. Each coach that has coached under Belichick has absorbed this mentality. As a result, they have sought to put these methods into practice when they have obtained positions of greater stature.

Barren Branches?

With the New England Patriots near two-decade run of success, it is no surprise that several Belichick-disciples have been highly-coveted candidates for head coaching vacancies. Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Eric Mangini, Nick Saban, Bill O’Brien, Matt Patricia and Brian Flores have been some of the most high-profile ‘branches of the Belichick ‘coaching tree’ to land in the head seat. Current Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels also spent time as head coach of the Denver Broncos from 2009-2010.

In each of these instances, the ‘branches’ of Belichick’s ‘tree’ were hired with great expectations. Each team brimmed with optimism as they anticipated a siphoning of the Belichickian tank of knowledge. However, the success enjoyed by Bill Belichick and the Patriots has not translated to that of his protégés with the same frequency and abundance at the NFL level. Aside from Nick Saban (at the collegiate level), no branch of Belichick’s coaching tree has yet enjoyed championship-level prosperity as a head coach at the pro-level.

Sure, there have been moments of fleeting celebration. O’Brien enjoyed modest success as the keeper of the helm of the Houston Texans. Eric Mangini coached his team to a 10-6 record in his first year as head coach of the New York Jets, which earned him a cameo on HBO’s The Sopranos. McDaniels, Patricia and Flores each notched regular-season wins over their former boss. However, as jobs have come and gone, Belichick remains the only ‘constant.’

Why is that? Again, the answer is simple. Bill Belichick always keeps his own counsel.

“Who’s a better consigliere than my father?”

In trying to emulate their mentor, so many Belichick protégés, as well as his competitors, have failed to grasp one simple concept. There is a difference between being ‘like’ Bill Belichick and trying to ‘BE’ him. It should be noted that he, himself, is no stranger to having to evolve from a legendary shadow. Having served as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants under Bill Parcells during much of the 1980s, Belichick also struggled to find his identity, at first. His tenure as head coach of the Cleveland Browns from 1991-1995 is often (and unfairly) regarded as a failure. However, he was able to harness his own persona by using the example from the man he admired most. That man was his father, Steve Belichick.

Anyone familiar with the Patriots head coach is keenly aware of the reverence and respect with which he holds his father’s memory. Keeping the great love between father and son out of the equation, Belichick is a staunch advocate of his father’s coaching philosophy. He often cites Steve Belichick’s highly-regarded book “Football Scouting Methods” as the greatest influence on his own coaching style. The elder Belichick, a legendary Naval Academy assistant coach, regarded the key to being a successful coach to mastering “the alignment, assignment, and execution of every move of every player visible on the screen.” Once he embraced this fundamental principle, Bill was able to put his father’s wisdom into a practice all his own. He wasn’t trying to ‘be’ his father. He was following his example. The results have more than spoken for themselves. Today, Belichick now imparts these lessons to his sons Steve (outside linebackers coach) and Brian (safeties), who join their father on the Patriots staff. It is a truly unique legacy, once again poised to be handed down from father to son.

A Seventh-Sense of Accomplishment?

As he pursues a ticket to postseason play for the Patriots, Bill Belichick continues to march to the beat of his own drum. Much has changed in the game of football since his rookie coaching campaign in 1975. The rules of the game have evolved. Media coverage has become far more scrutinous. The era of ‘no-frills grit’ has been supplanted by that of the ‘tweet,’ ‘sound byte’ and the ‘hot take.’ In some cases, appearance is more important than the result.

However, Belichick remains ‘the constant’ due to his unwillingness to change the formula with which he has found so much success. Of course, he evolves with the times, as any person would. Yet, there are core axioms and fundamentals that keep him firmly within the grasp of his own counsel. In his own words, Belichick once simply stated:

“What it takes to win and the things that cause you to lose, I don’t think those have changed.”

This, perhaps, is the greatest key to Belichick’s success. He remains steadfast in the knowledge and practice, which is as finely detailed as its technician. In terms of distraction, Belichick continues to be the contrarian; one who refuses to be defined by the story of the day. Whether it be devising game strategies based on his own vanity, or the most recent media-embellished scandal surrounding his team, he defiantly refuses to feed into the frenzy. What most matters to him is that the 53 players in his locker room understand him. It is why he has succeeded so mightily, while others around him have not.

Upon their return from the bye week, Belichick will be on the Patriots’ sidelines, imparting the knowledge he has collected to his players. It is incumbent on the Patriots roster to put that plan into action. Win or lose, the same scenario in the very next game which the Patriots play. He will not look past his next opponent. He will work tirelessly to ensure that his team does not defeat itself with careless mistakes.

At the moment, Belichick has nothing in his sights but the Indianapolis Colts and a Saturday night matchup on December 18 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Neither the Buffalo Bills, nor potential playoff opponents will enter his consciousness. A potential seventh Super Bowl title as Patriots’ head coach will not even enter his consciousness. While his peers obsess over his prowess, he remains intent on preparing his own team. It is this focus which allows him to keep his own counsel.

To paraphrase his own iconic quote: He is who he is.

And few, if any, have ever done it better.