Bill Belichick

[jwooten15]

I'm as big a Cowboys fan as anybody you'll ever meet, but I'm amazed at what Belichick is able to do, year in and year out, in New England.

What has he figured out that nobody else in the league is able to grasp?

For as much parity there is, and as unpredictable each team will be each year, New England has consistently been a Super Bowl threat for 15+ years.

Surely he doesn't just know football better than anyone else. What's his secret? (Tom Brady can't be your answer ).

 

[Tabascocat]

He is not a prisoner to change. He constantly adapts from week to week and their system is basically plug and play. Brady does account for much of their success but I think there could be many competent QB's who would be successful in that scheme/system.

Not only is he about culture and environment, he also uses X's and O's

 

[remdak]

He doesn't have a team of superstars, other than Tom Brady, and Gronk when he is healthy. So, there's not a few players taking up all the cap space and making the roster top heavy on talent. Just a bunch of good players who "do their job". One injury, like a Sean Lee or Tyron Smith, doesn't cripple the team because the overall roster is strong and not top heavy.

 

[sean10mm]

I'm going to try to provide a serious answer that's not "OMG slightly softened footballs that one time made them invincible!"

1. Tom Brady plays a large role, for sure. He's often not the #1 quarterback in the league in any given season, but he's among the best every season. Having the most important position always locked up isn't enough by itself, but it's a hell of a start.
2. On the personnel side, what stands out is that they seem a lot more concerned with building a deep team top to bottom than chasing after hype free agents or making the "blockbuster" trade. They will make moves that seem to hurt the team in the short term to prevent future cap problems, which basically nobody else does. Their whole mindset is that they're going to do what it takes to assemble good teams every season forever, not that they're going to go broke trying to make a "dream team" this season and then worry about the consequences later. Every team talks about doing this, but inevitably they fall into the trap of thinking THIS ONE GUY will push the team over the top, and tie up too much of the salary cap in one star, or trade away too many draft picks to move up for a rookie who then blows out his knees or gets busted for coke or something.
   1. Classic example: they dumped stars Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins in quick succession, which on paper made the defense way worse. Then they promptly won the Super Bowl, and had plenty of cash for free agents down the line to fortify a roster THAT JUST WON A TITLE.
3. Belichick is smarter than everybody else, but a big part of it is that he's happy to borrow ideas from other coaches if they work, and throw away his own ideas if they don't. He doesn't have a boat called "VII Rings" because he's modest exactly, but he's happy to throw away his game plan and start over if it isn't working, and change the scheme to fit the players he actually has, rather than the ones he wishes he had. Nobody adjusts better to the opponent, the situation in the game, or the players he has on hand than Belichick. He doesn't force guys into the one scheme he's comfortable with, he changes the scheme to maximize the production of his players against whoever they're playing that day.

Most coaches talk about this stuff, but few of them are willing or able to throw out their scheme for a new one if the old one quit working, and they can't stay disciplined about personnel decisions and cap management because WOW LOOK AT THIS GUY HE'S THE ONE PIECE THAT WILL GET US A RING!!!!

 

[Clamdigger]

I'm going to try to provide a serious answer that's not "OMG slightly softened footballs that one time made them invincible!"

1. Tom Brady plays a large role, for sure. He's often not the #1 quarterback in the league in any given season, but he's among the best every season. Having the most important position always locked up isn't enough by itself, but it's a hell of a start.
2. On the personnel side, what stands out is that they seem a lot more concerned with building a deep team top to bottom than chasing after hype free agents or making the "blockbuster" trade. They will make moves that seem to hurt the team in the short term to prevent future cap problems, which basically nobody else does. Their whole mindset is that they're going to do what it takes to assemble good teams every season forever, not that they're going to go broke trying to make a "dream team" this season and then worry about the consequences later. Every team talks about doing this, but inevitably they fall into the trap of thinking THIS ONE GUY will push the team over the top, and tie up too much of the salary cap in one star, or trade away too many draft picks to move up for a rookie who then blows out his knees or gets busted for coke or something.
   1. Classic example: they dumped stars Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins in quick succession, which on paper made the defense way worse. Then they promptly won the Super Bowl, and had plenty of cash for free agents down the line to fortify a roster THAT JUST WON A TITLE.
3. Belichick is smarter than everybody else, but a big part of it is that he's happy to borrow ideas from other coaches if they work, and throw away his own ideas if they don't. He doesn't have a boat called "VII Rings" because he's modest exactly, but he's happy to throw away his game plan and start over if it isn't working, and change the scheme to fit the players he actually has, rather than the ones he wishes he had. Nobody adjusts better to the opponent, the situation in the game, or the players he has on hand than Belichick. He doesn't force guys into the one scheme he's comfortable with, he changes the scheme to maximize the production of his players against whoever they're playing that day.

Most coaches talk about this stuff, but few of them are willing or able to throw out their scheme for a new one if the old one quit working, and they can't stay disciplined about personnel decisions and cap management because WOW LOOK AT THIS GUY HE'S THE ONE PIECE THAT WILL GET US A RING!!!!

That defense still has problems this season, though. It's fine against the hapless Broncos' offense, but they're giving up 120 YPG on the ground and the most passing YPG in the league.

 

[sean10mm]

That defense still has problems this season, though. It's fine against the hapless Broncos' offense, but they're giving up 120 YPG on the ground and the most passing YPG in the league.

Last 5 games they've given up 14, 17, 7, 13, and 16 points. And that's with a ton of defensive guys on IR or missing extended playing time (Jones, Davis, Langi, Valentine, McClellin, Hightower, Rivers, Brown, Rowe, Marsh) and Ninkovich retiring.

 

[Clamdigger]

Last 5 games they've given up 14, 17, 7, 13, and 16 points. And that's with a ton of defensive guys on IR or missing extended playing time (Jones, Davis, Langi, Valentine, McClellin, Hightower, Rivers, Brown, Rowe, Marsh) and Ninkovich retiring.

Nice sample selection. And that's well and good, but it's going to catch up to them.

And even in that favorable sample that you've chosen, the highest ranked offense is #15 in PPG.

Buccaneers - 21st in PPG (AVG 19.2)
Jets - 20th in PPG (AVG 20.1)
Falcons - 15th in PPG (AVG 21.9)
Chargers - 23rd in PPG (AVG 18.6)
Broncos - 24th in PPG (AVG 18.4)

If you go further back, you'll see:

33 to the Panthers (22 in PPG, AVG 18.7)
42 to the Chiefs (5th in PPG, AVG 28.1)

The Texans current average doesn't reflect the team that the Patriots played, so we'll toss that one out. Also assuming some of these scores were from opposing defenses or STs.

The Pats have an average to slightly above average defense.

 

[perrykemp]

He has passed a Lombardi as the best NFL coach of all time IMHO.

It pains me to type that, but there it is...

 

[sean10mm]

Nice sample selection. And that's well and good, but it's going to catch up to them.

And even in that favorable sample that you've chosen, the highest ranked offense is #15 in PPG.

Buccaneers - 21st in PPG (AVG 19.2)
Jets - 20th in PPG (AVG 20.1)
Falcons - 15th in PPG (AVG 21.9)
Chargers - 23rd in PPG (AVG 18.6)
Broncos - 24th in PPG (AVG 18.4)

If you go further back, you'll see:

33 to the Panthers (22 in PPG, AVG 18.7)
42 to the Chiefs (5th in PPG, AVG 28.1)

The Texans current average doesn't reflect the team that the Patriots played, so we'll toss that one out. Also assuming some of these scores were from opposing defenses or STs.

The Pats have an average to slightly above average defense.

"Nice sample selection" is just listing the most recent games, i.e. the ones that reflect the current state of the team, not how it played a month ago because who cares?

Using your logic, 2014 was a lost season for them because they had some bad losses early on that made their team stats look less pretty.

Their MO under Belichick is for the team to improve over the course of the season, barring drastic injuries like happened to their OL in 2015. They peak in December and January (or February), not October and November.

They might not win the Super Bowl this year, sure. But the point is that every year they're in the hunt. They don't fold because Hightower or Gronk go out and write off the whole season like the Cowboys would.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

He obviously has the ability to properly rate talent, and not just starting talent but 2nd and 3rd string talent.

 

[Idgit]

He's playing chess, when everybody else is playing checkers. And he's got an all-time great QB.

 

[Clamdigger]

"Nice sample selection" is just listing the most recent games, i.e. the ones that reflect the current state of the team, not how it played a month ago because who cares?

Using your logic, 2014 was a lost season for them because they had some bad losses early on that made their team stats look less pretty.

Their MO under Belichick is for the team to improve over the course of the season, barring drastic injuries like happened to their OL in 2015. They peak in December and January (or February), not October and November.

They might not win the Super Bowl this year, sure. But the point is that every year they're in the hunt. They don't fold because Hightower or Gronk go out and write off the whole season like the Cowboys would.

You mean including the games where they played top offenses and gave up higher-than-average points? Not knocking Belichick, just pointing out that their defense is average and have been playing mediocre to bad offenses in the last 5 games.

And where did I say that their season is lost? I said that defense has issues that are going to bite them at times.

 

[jwooten15]

I'm going to try to provide a serious answer that's not "OMG slightly softened footballs that one time made them invincible!"

1. Tom Brady plays a large role, for sure. He's often not the #1 quarterback in the league in any given season, but he's among the best every season. Having the most important position always locked up isn't enough by itself, but it's a hell of a start.
2. On the personnel side, what stands out is that they seem a lot more concerned with building a deep team top to bottom than chasing after hype free agents or making the "blockbuster" trade. They will make moves that seem to hurt the team in the short term to prevent future cap problems, which basically nobody else does. Their whole mindset is that they're going to do what it takes to assemble good teams every season forever, not that they're going to go broke trying to make a "dream team" this season and then worry about the consequences later. Every team talks about doing this, but inevitably they fall into the trap of thinking THIS ONE GUY will push the team over the top, and tie up too much of the salary cap in one star, or trade away too many draft picks to move up for a rookie who then blows out his knees or gets busted for coke or something.
   1. Classic example: they dumped stars Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins in quick succession, which on paper made the defense way worse. Then they promptly won the Super Bowl, and had plenty of cash for free agents down the line to fortify a roster THAT JUST WON A TITLE.
3. Belichick is smarter than everybody else, but a big part of it is that he's happy to borrow ideas from other coaches if they work, and throw away his own ideas if they don't. He doesn't have a boat called "VII Rings" because he's modest exactly, but he's happy to throw away his game plan and start over if it isn't working, and change the scheme to fit the players he actually has, rather than the ones he wishes he had. Nobody adjusts better to the opponent, the situation in the game, or the players he has on hand than Belichick. He doesn't force guys into the one scheme he's comfortable with, he changes the scheme to maximize the production of his players against whoever they're playing that day.

Most coaches talk about this stuff, but few of them are willing or able to throw out their scheme for a new one if the old one quit working, and they can't stay disciplined about personnel decisions and cap management because WOW LOOK AT THIS GUY HE'S THE ONE PIECE THAT WILL GET US A RING!!!!

Great analysis, man. I think you're spot on with basically everything you said.

 

[Stryker44]

I'm as big a Cowboys fan as anybody you'll ever meet, but I'm amazed at what Belichick is able to do, year in and year out, in New England.

What has he figured out that nobody else in the league is able to grasp?

For as much parity there is, and as unpredictable each team will be each year, New England has consistently been a Super Bowl threat for 15+ years.

Surely he doesn't just know football better than anyone else. What's his secret? (Tom Brady can't be your answer ).

He must know football deeper than everybody else.

 

[Stryker44]

He has passed a Lombardi as the best NFL coach of all time IMHO.

It pains me to type that, but there it is...

No ******* way. Halas, Lombardi, and Gibbs are the best. Undisputed.

Belichick lost to Steve Spurrier. Steve ******* Spurrier.

 

[Ghost12]

No ******* way. Halas, Lombardi, and Gibbs are the best. Undisputed.

Belichick lost to Steve Spurrier. Steve ******* Spurrier.

Really? Taking one single loss to a crappy coach and using that as an excuse to exclude him from the top echelon? There isn't a single coach we couldn't do the same thing to. A quick check shows Joe Gibbs lost to Marvin Lewis. And Butch Davis. And Brad Childress.

 

[visionary]

He's playing chess, when everybody else is playing checkers. And he's got an all-time great QB.

Meanwhile our HC stands facing the wall drooling in the corner

 

[sean10mm]

No ******* way. Halas, Lombardi, and Gibbs are the best. Undisputed.

Belichick lost to Steve Spurrier. Steve ******* Spurrier.

You can do this to any coach in NFL history. Everybody has a stupid loss at random on their resume if they coach long enough, so this is a meaningless criticism.

 

[yimyammer]

What's his secret? (Tom Brady can't be your answer ).

Ernie Adams

 

[Aven8]

Ernie Adams

I heard about him years ago when I saw a football life with Belicheck. Thanks for the link! Great article.