OXBOROUGH, Mass. – Nuggets of note from Bill Belichick’s season-ending press conference Monday morning:
Players’ duties completed. Belichick met with players at 10 a.m., which was the last official team meeting of the season. Earlier in the locker room, players packed up trash bags and big boxes with their belongings. Some players will be in and out this week (mostly those who were injured), but their obligations have been completed. Belichick said the staff will also take a break before returning to wrap up the season.
Assessing not just the mix of players, but also coaches. At the end of the press conference, Belichick was asked about the makeup of the coaching staff and if he gets enough push-back from some of the young coaches he’s helped groom. It’s important for every coach to get challenged, which Belichick acknowledged. “Romeo [Crennel] or Charlie [Weis], they wouldn’t really be afraid at times to say ‘What are you doing? Are you serious? Really seriously considering that?’ And then there is certainly another level of coach that at that time, or at this time, they wouldn’t say that to me. I understand that. I was like that. There was a point of time where I would never say [anything], whether it was to Ted Marchibroda or Red Miller. Then there was a point in time where I would, mostly with Bill [Parcells]. … We try to have an open communication, an open forum. Some things aren’t open, it’s ‘this is the way they’re going to be.’ I think that is something, as a head coach, you have to be conscious of. And I am.”
Time to go through a thorough process. Belichick stressed that now is not the time to make snap judgments. He said in his coaching experience, he’s found it beneficial to step back and consider the full body of work after some time away. “I’m sure there are a lot of questions about things in the future and I understand those questions. And in all honesty, we’re asking ourselves maybe some of the ones you would ask. But right now is not the time to make those decisions. We go through the process we usually do, whether it’s scheme, personnel, program, system, how we do things, so forth and so on, and take a look at all of it.”
Unchartered waters ahead. With the NFL facing an uncertain labor future, and the possibility of no salary cap, that adds a new wrinkle to offseason planning. Every team is in the same boat. “There is really no precedence for it,” he said. “It’s different than any other year.”
Finality hits home. Belichick explained why he was so down after the loss. “Our season ended. The finality of it. It’s like you’re on a treadmill and you’re running, however fast you run, and you hit the stop button, it stops and you fall off. That’s where you are in the NFL playoffs.”
