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| Introduction | ix | ||||
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18 | (19) | |||
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37 | (17) | |||
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54 | (12) | |||
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66 | (18) | |||
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84 | (26) | |||
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| Epilogue | 233 | (6) | |||
| Acknowledgments | 239 |
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Bill Belichick has moments that few people see orimagine, moments when he is no longer the premierstrategist of his profession. These are thetimes when he could be the guy in the next cubicle,any other father, husband, or son. Thesebreaks from brilliance make him a strongercoach. They remind him that briefly steppingaway from his football vision can actually allowhim to see more of it.
There are times when the diagrammed playson the erasable board in his office are for an audienceof two—his sons, Stephen and Brian. Thereare times when the brainteasers he attempts tosolve are provided by members of his family, notby other coaches. "Do you know what 'discrete'means?" he said one day after a conversation with Brian. His younger son—who attends Brookline's DexterSchool, John F. Kennedy's alma mater—was studying vocabularywords. "Discrete" was one of them. "It's not thesame as 'discreet,' " Belichick said. "Brian's class is goingover words that have similar sounds with different meanings.That's a good one."
There was the time he tried to put on one of his favoritesweaters and could barely get it over his shoulders. Laundrymistake. He called his wife, Debby, to talk about it. Heheard a lot of laughter coming from the phone. "It's notfunny," he said with a smirk, even though he knew it was.
What most surprises people who don't know him is howmuch he enjoys a good laugh, usually when he's away fromwork and sometimes when he's at it. He earned a reputationfor giving bland descriptions during his press conferences,where his personality is the sacrifice to protectingthe goods. Press conferences are part of his game plans—he prepares for them at least fifteen to twenty minutes perday—so he is especially conscious of saying or implyinganything that will give an opponent an edge. By the time hewalks into his morning briefings with the New Englandmedia, he has already broken them down. He has predictedthe incendiary topics of the day, sketched an outline of howhe will respond to those topics, and offered suggestions tohis players on how they should respond too. He has masteredan indifferent look during these conferences, yetwhen they are over he can easily recall details about latearrivingreporters, opinion-makers he hasn't seen in awhile, and questioners he didn't recognize. When his conversationis no longer on the record, it's as if some hiddenmasseuse has suddenly relieved him of tension points.
He can be relaxed during television production meet-ings, depending on the broadcast crew for the game. He'sbeen extremely loose with Phil Simms, Greg Gumbel, andArmen Keteyian of CBS. He trusts them enough to jokewith them. Once he went into a meeting seeing if he couldneedle Simms. "Phil, I've heard you've been ripping the shitout of me," he said to the former Giants quarterback."That's all I hear from people: 'Simms is ripping your assduring the broadcast.' " Simms didn't fall for it. He knewthat Belichick wouldn't leave anything to hearsay and thatif he had indeed ripped Belichick, the coach would knowexactly when it happened, down and distance included."Bullshit," Simms said. "All I do is talk about how smartyou are. We call you the smartest coach ever every week."Belichick laughed, leaned back in his chair, and acted as ifhe were getting ready for a card game with his friends.
It helps that Simms has known Belichick since 1979,but that's not the only reason Belichick respects him andhis crew. He is even more impressed with their preparation.They are often dressed casually in these meetings—T-shirts, baseball caps, flip-flops—but they always have aplan for what is going to be discussed. Simms is indeedtheir quarterback, so they all watch film and jot down observationsto present to Belichick. Their hard work makeshim so comfortable that he often sits in the meetings, feetpropped up, telling stories. He once told them that he ran amarathon and was spotted by Giants fans. "They saw me,and one fan says, 'Look, there's Belichick of the Giants.They still don't have a running game!' "
On some days when things are quiet at Gillette Stadium—after the Saturday morning walk-through and beforethe Saturday evening coaches' meeting—Belichick isvisited by one of his three dogs. Sometimes he entertains Tom Brady—a sports fan with an appreciation of sportshistory—by telling tales about the old Giants. He oncecalled defensive lineman Richard Seymour into his officeso they could watch tape and talk about some of the dominantplayers of the NFC East in the 1980s.
He may have been born in Tennessee and raised inMaryland, but he's got a lot of Northeast humor in him. Hecan be clever, sarcastic, and profane. Coming from his of-fice it's not unusual to hear the voices of Frank Rizzo andSol Rosenberg, the characters dreamed up by the JerkyBoys, the notorious telephone pranksters from Queens.When he isn't listening to their funny stories, he tells a fewof his own. He tells one about a family vacation in Europein the mid-1990s. No matter where they went, the Belichickssaw dozens of Europe's aged churches. They sawlandmarks and a certain recurring icon. At one point Brianturned to his parents and said, "Who is this guy? We're seeinghim everywhere."
The "guy" was Jesus Christ.
"I don't know if I should tell that story," Belichick says,shaking his head. "People are going to think we're bad parents."
He has gone from twenty-six-year-old coach-peer tofifty-two-year-old coach-teacher. He has learned to be moreof a negotiator with his own team, making compromises insome areas—or at least being able to listen—without sellingout his core beliefs.
Patriot Reign
Excerpted from Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion by Michael Holley
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
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