The smartest guy in the room...

[Seven Nation Army]

An excerpt from the Breaking Down Belichick article. The reference to the Dawg Pound and the tearful Packer fans are hilarious. Also illustrates the sense of frustration and powerlessness that opposing fans have when facing Belichick and the Patriots.

The Smartest Guy in the Room. (But About That Room…)
By Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone political writer and author of Smells Like Dead Elephants: Dispatches from a Rotting Empire

Anyone looking for insight into the behavior of Bill Belichick need only look at a few sample questions from the Wonderlic, the SAT-style test administered to college players before the NFL draft. Graded on a scale of 1 to 50, players are asked questions like "When rope is selling for 10 cents a foot, how many feet can you buy for 60 cents?" Players get 12 minutes to answer 50 questions, and it's a Herculean struggle. Scores of 10 and 12 out of 50 are common. Isotoner spokesman Dan Marino is said to have scored a 16. Steve McNair reportedly managed a 15.

This is the intellectual environment in which Bill Belichick works. Remember that a great many coaches are ex-players. Whiz-kid coach Jon Gruden was a third-string quarterback at Dayton who spent his high school years filling notebooks with X's and O's—not actual plays, mind you, but just the letters. Mike Ditka, you wouldn't bet even money that he could write his name in the ground with a stick. And he nearly ran for the Senate! That tells you something about the sea of mental mediocrity that is the United States in general, let alone the NFL. It also explains why Belichick didn't seem particularly intimidated by the sight of Senator Arlen Specter doing his apocalyptic-bloviation act on ESPN.

Bill Belichick's problem isn't that he's "too smart," as some have contended. His problem, actually, is that he's just smarter than everyone else he sees on a daily basis. He gets up every morning to work alongside people who need to be reminded that it's easier to run behind a tight end than a wide receiver.

Someday in the near future, he will be asked for the nine-thousandth time to "talk about the value of team chemistry" by yet another balding sportswriter with a huge spare tire who's slogging through the sad terminal adolescence that is his professional existence. On the road, Belichick looks into the stands and sees grown men wearing dog masks and hats fashioned to look like big pieces of cheese staring tearfully at the field alongside their plump sons, idiots-in-training with mustard-stained faces, both generations mystified and devastated by whatever B or B-minus plan he cooked up to beat their team that day.

An able man working in this environment long enough will naturally develop some problems in the area of taking other people seriously. And not just other people's opinions about his job performance, but their rules, their expectations of conduct, their moral outrage. In the Spygate scandal, it didn't help that the so-called infraction was a thing patently absurd on its face—filming signals made out in the open for the whole world to see, the equivalent of filming a third-base coach. Belichick is not wrong to be frustrated by what a big deal everyone is making over this. Where he is wrong is in not seeing that only a madman films a third-base coach. A real genius would never lose sight of the fact that football is just a game, and there are certain lines he would never cross to win one. That is the difference between being really smart, and just smarter than most—and we can all hope that Bill Belichick is smart enough to figure even that out, someday.

 

[Wildo7]

This guy continues to amaze me with everything I read by him. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite writers and every appearance on Bill Maher only adds to that. That short blurb pretty much epitomizes exactly how I feel about Belichick, sports writers and the NFL in general.

EDIT - That whole series of articles is really refreshing actually. It's one of those rare pieces that reminds you how simplistic and childish most of the sports pieces we read are. A nice variety of intelligent voices (except Easterbrook). Thanks for the post.

 

[TripleOption]

This guy continues to amaze me with everything I read by him. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite writers and every appearance on Bill Maher only adds to that. That short blurb pretty much epitomizes exactly how I feel about Belichick, sports writers and the NFL in general.

EDIT - That whole series of articles is really refreshing actually. It's one of those rare pieces that reminds you how simplistic and childish most of the sports pieces we read are. A nice variety of intelligent voices (except Easterbrook). Thanks for the post.

Sounds like a smarmy a-hole to me. Sure, sure. All NFL coaches are idiots, but Belichick is less of an idiot. What an arrogant tool. Frankly, I know a ton of high school coaches I consider smarter than most magazine writers.

Football is an incredibly detailed sport, where the smallest minutia can cost you. I would guarantee you that Mr. Rolling Stone would be absolutely clueless even in a postional meeting at a High School team.

Someday in the near future, he will be asked for the nine-thousandth time to "talk about the value of team chemistry" by yet another balding sportswriter with a huge spare tire who's slogging through the sad terminal adolescence that is his professional existence. On the road, Belichick looks into the stands and sees grown men wearing dog masks and hats fashioned to look like big pieces of cheese staring tearfully at the field alongside their plump sons, idiots-in-training with mustard-stained faces, both generations mystified and devastated by whatever B or B-minus plan he cooked up to beat their team that day.

So, the "political writer for Rolling Stone" calls someone else's career choice sad? Maybe the genius could explain Belichick's "B minus" plan to the rest of us idiots? I doubt it.

 

[Wildo7]

Sounds like a smarmy a-hole to me. Sure, sure. All NFL coaches are idiots, but Belichick is less of an idiot. What an arrogant tool. Frankly, I know a ton of high school coaches I consider smarter than most magazine writers.

Football is an incredibly detailed sport, where the smallest minutia can cost you. I would guarantee you that Mr. Rolling Stone would be absolutely clueless even in a postional meeting at a High School team.



So, the "political writer for Rolling Stone" calls someone else's career choice sad? Maybe the genius could explain Belichick's "B minus" plan to the rest of us idiots? I doubt it.

Sounds like your politics is tainting your view of what he wrote. NFL head coaches are not necessarily smart people, they just excel in a very specific job role. If you think Ditka or Madden are geniuses for rising to the top of their profession that's great, but I don't see it. Head coaching jobs, after all, are dominated by cronyism, nepotism and luck. It's not exactly an atmosphere where the cream of the crop naturally gets the job.

And do yourself a favor and read his next article compared to someone like Tim Cowlishaw or Dan Shaughnessy and you'll see what he means by "terminal adolescence." Sports writing is dominated by gossip and character assassination. Yes there are good sportswriters, but just like good coaches, they're surrounded by meatheads.

 

[TripleOption]

Sounds like your politics is tainting your view of what he wrote. NFL head coaches are not necessarily smart people, they just excel in a very specific job role. If you think Ditka or Madden are geniuses for rising to the top of their profession that's great, but I don't see it. Head coaching jobs, after all, are dominated by cronyism, nepotism and luck. It's not exactly an atmosphere where the cream of the crop naturally gets the job.

And do yourself a favor and read his next article compared to someone like Tim Cowlishaw or Dan Shaughnessy and you'll see what he means by "terminal adolescence." Sports writing is dominated by gossip and character assassination. Yes there are good sportswriters, but just like good coaches, they're surrounded by meatheads.

If they excel in their specific job role, are they less intelligent than say, writers for a crappy magazine? It's a good thing we've eliminated cronyism, nepotism and luck in all other careers except Pro Football.

What do my politics have to do with anything? I've never expressed politics on this board. Don't make excuses for d*ck like this writer by using "political bias".

 

[Wildo7]

If they excel in their specific job role, are they less intelligent than say, writers for a crappy magazine? It's a good thing we've eliminated cronyism, nepotism and luck in all other careers except Pro Football.

What do my politics have to do with anything? I've never expressed politics on this board. Don't make excuses for d*ck like this writer by using "political bias".

You brought up the fact that he's the "political writer" for the Rolling Stone. Then you called the Rolling Stone a "crappy magazine." Excuse me for reading between the lines.

I didn't say anything about eliminating cronyism, nepotism and luck from other professions, I said that it dominates the NFL head coaching position. And I don't need to make excuses for him, he's a terrific writer.

 

[Patjew]

Sounds like a smarmy a-hole to me. Sure, sure. All NFL coaches are idiots, but Belichick is less of an idiot. What an arrogant tool. Frankly, I know a ton of high school coaches I consider smarter than most magazine writers.

Although a smarmy a-hole myself, I think I have to agree with this. Although he's a great writer, this guy's horse is very high.

Isn't all (or at least most) "intelligence" very specific. I don't think Einstein or Hawking could coach a football team or even necessarily survive on a desert island, but those guys ain't too dumb. Likewise, while Ditka may not have a gigantic IQ, he sure has alot more football smarts than 99% of us, not to mention a great knack for motivation and self-promotion. Same for Parcells (although he may actually have a very high IQ). I'd like to see what makes this writer so smart other than his writing techniques and pomposity.

That said, he's still fun to read.

 

[Wildo7]

Although a smarmy a-hole myself, I think I have to agree with this. Although he's a great writer, this guy's horse is very high.

Isn't all (or at least most) "intelligence" very specific. I don't think Einstein or Hawking could coach a football team or even necessarily survive on a desert island, but those guys ain't too dumb. Likewise, while Ditka may not have a gigantic IQ, he sure has alot more football smarts than 99% of us, not to mention a great knack for motivation and self-promotion. Same for Parcells (although he may actually have a very high IQ). I'd like to see what makes this writer so smart other than his writing techniques and pomposity.

That said, he's still fun to read.

If a given professions' collective achievements are sub-par then it stands to reason that those that excel in it are excelling over mediocrity. Especially when that profession doesn't have a very good system in place to reward the best minds with the best jobs (see Eric Mangini). I'm fairly certain that Hawkings handicap prevents him from functioning as a NFL head coach, but I'd think that if the Einstein's of the world devoted their mental prowess towards only NFL head coaching, they'd be incredibly successful. Gladly, they've got more important things to do. The ones who don't are mostly ex-athletes or relatives of ex-athletes; not exactly the smartest demographic.

 

[Patjew]

If a given professions' collective achievements are sub-par then it stands to reason that those that excel in it are excelling over mediocrity.

What do you mean by that? What are these "collective achievements" of NFL coaches, and how do you determine that they're lower than those of teachers or writers or any other professions?

Especially when that profession doesn't have a very good system in place to reward the best minds with the best jobs (see Eric Mangini). I'm fairly certain that Hawkings handicap prevents him from functioning as a NFL head coach, but I'd think that if the Einstein's of the world devoted their mental prowess towards only NFL head coaching, they'd be incredibly successful. Gladly, they've got more important things to do. The ones who don't are mostly ex-athletes or relatives of ex-athletes; not exactly the smartest demographic.

I disagree with that. It takes alot more than book-smarts to be a successful coach. It also takes a high degree of emotional intelligence, which many so-called geniuses lack. I know many PhD research chemists from my industry that are basically clueless outside of the minutia within their comfort zone.

Now don't start yelling at me, this is a friendly conversation.

 

[TripleOption]

You brought up the fact that he's the "political writer" for the Rolling Stone. Then you called the Rolling Stone a "crappy magazine." Excuse me for reading between the lines.

I didn't say anything about eliminating cronyism, nepotism and luck from other professions, I said that it dominates the NFL head coaching position. And I don't need to make excuses for him, he's a terrific writer.

It most certainly does not "dominate" the NFL. You are absolutely talking out your a**. No wonder you think this arrogant hack is a "terrific writer."

Rolling Stone, in my opinion...sucks.

 

[TripleOption]

If a given professions' collective achievements are sub-par then it stands to reason that those that excel in it are excelling over mediocrity. Especially when that profession doesn't have a very good system in place to reward the best minds with the best jobs (see Eric Mangini). I'm fairly certain that Hawkings handicap prevents him from functioning as a NFL head coach, but I'd think that if the Einstein's of the world devoted their mental prowess towards only NFL head coaching, they'd be incredibly successful. Gladly, they've got more important things to do. The ones who don't are mostly ex-athletes or relatives of ex-athletes; not exactly the smartest demographic.

Yes, because athletes are stupid, all of them. Good work, you are really bucking for the Matt Taibbi Memorial D*uchebag of the Year Award.

Einstein would have been a terrible football coach, regardless of how he devoted his intellect. He was devoid of the charisma, the people skills and the fire that is necessary to excel and supplements the intelligence requirement.

Regardless, if an NFL HC is successful, is at the top of his game, makes a lot of money and is respected by his peers and the general public, who the F are you or the arrogant a** from Rolling Stone to belittle his intelligence?

The bottom line? If Bill Belichick and Matt Taibbi were in the same room, Belichick would STILL be the smartest guy in the room.

 

[Wildo7]

What do you mean by that? What are these "collective achievements" of NFL coaches, and how do you determine that they're lower than those of teachers or writers or any other professions?

I mean that if you have a group of 32 people whose average IQ is sub par and a group of 32 people whose average IQ is above average, the successful ones in the sub par group will likely be less smart than the successful ones in the above average group. If the NFL groomed most of it's coaches from the non-player, academically-oriented students of the game like Ernie Adams or Bill Belichick model rather than the ex-athlete model then head coaches as a group would be much smarter, and operate at a higher level. This is why you still see glaring mistakes among long-standing head coaches like Herm Edwards clock mismanagement or Joe Gibbs back to back timeouts.

I disagree with that. It takes alot more than book-smarts to be a successful coach. It also takes a high degree of emotional intelligence, which many so-called geniuses lack. I know many PhD research chemists from my industry that are basically clueless outside of the minutia within their comfort zone.

Clueless because they have chosen to focus on a single concentration. I agree about the emotional intelligence but I think it's vastly overrated and this article speaks to that. Belichick isn't the "win one for the gipper" ra-ra pump you up type of coach and yet he's the absolute best. And the Patriots are largely successful because they concentrate on intelligence over raw talent. I doubt very much that BB has any emotional connection with any of his players other than the fact that they respect him because his game planning is so successful. I'd say BB is 75% NFL "book smarts" and 25% ambition, and not very emotionally intelligent at all, much like the chemist or physicist.

Now don't start yelling at me, this is a friendly conversation.

Why would I do that?

 

[TripleOption]

The ones who don't are mostly ex-athletes or relatives of ex-athletes; not exactly the smartest demographic.

Quickly, now...name me all the NFL Head Coaches that got their jobs because they are "relatives of ex-athletes."

What an a**.

 

[Patjew]

I mean that if you have a group of 32 people whose average IQ is sub par and a group of 32 people whose average IQ is above average, the successful ones in the sub par group will likely be less smart than the successful ones in the above average group. If the NFL groomed most of it's coaches from the non-player, academically-oriented students of the game like Ernie Adams or Bill Belichick model rather than the ex-athlete model then head coaches as a group would be much smarter, and operate at a higher level. This is why you still see glaring mistakes among long-standing head coaches like Herm Edwards clock mismanagement or Joe Gibbs back to back timeouts.




Clueless because they have chosen to a single concentration. I agree about the emotional intelligence but I think it's vastly overrated and this article speaks to that. Belichick isn't the "win one for the gipper" ra-ra pump you up type of coach and yet he's the absolute best. And the Patriots are largely successful because they concentrate on intelligence over raw talent. I doubt very much that BB has any emotional connection with any of his players other than the fact that they respect him because his game planning is so successful. I'd say BB is 75% NFL "book smarts" and 25% ambition, and not very emotionally intelligent at all, much like the chemist or physicist.

I see what you mean. We're not on the same exact page here, and I really have no idea what the collective IQs are of NFL coaches, but I see where you're coming from. Anyway, bottom line for me is there sure are alot of dumb people out there, but to me all intelligence is relative. So to widely claim that a group that has reached the pinnacle of its profession is not intelligent strikes me as intellectually lazy. Again, for me it all comes down to "what intelligence are we speaking of?"

Why would I do that?

Some people on message boards cannot handle a differing opinion, that's all. I was just kidding.

 

[TripleOption]

I mean that if you have a group of 32 people whose average IQ is sub par and a group of 32 people whose average IQ is above average, the successful ones in the sub par group will likely be less smart than the successful ones in the above average group. ...This is why you still see glaring mistakes among long-standing head coaches like Herm Edwards clock mismanagement or Joe Gibbs back to back timeouts.

Take Mr. Rolling Stone. Throw him onto a field with 65,000 screaming fans. Now tell him that the next decision he makes will determine whether or not he loses his job and gets obliterated in the media. My guess? He craps himself. Even Herm could do better than Taibbi.

Clueless because they have chosen to a single concentration. I agree about the emotional intelligence but I think it's vastly overrated

Never been around the really smart dumb guy before? The one who is a computer genius but can't cook for himself?

Belichick isn't the "win one for the gipper" ra-ra pump you up type of coach and yet he's the absolute best.

BS. Belichick plays just as many mind games and motivational tactics as anyone. Google him. He brings in speakers, watches boxing mathes with the team, motivational moves, slogans, whatever. The days of the NFL HC giving scathing speeches are over.

I doubt very much that BB has any emotional connection with any of his players other than the fact that they respect him because his game planning is so successful.

Once again, talking out your a**. Many players, current and former have expressed fondness for Belichick. I'd imagine Rodney Harrison would deck you for even making that statement.

 

[Wildo7]

Yes, because athletes are stupid, all of them. Good work, you are really bucking for the Matt Taibbi Memorial D*uchebag of the Year Award.

Now you're just name-calling and straw manning me. I never said "athletes are all stupid." I said that it's the wrong pool of hire from for a mostly intelligence-based job. I specifically said "yes, there are good sportswriters" too, but as a whole I think they frequently dumb down their content and under-perform collectively as a field. And there are smart athletes too. But as a whole they are less adequate for the job because they have focused on physical development over mental development, for the most part. Again, there are exceptions for this, but they are just that, exceptions. The NFL would do better to groom more coaches outside of that model and Parcells and Belichick are a testament to this.

Einstein would have been a terrible football coach, regardless of how he devoted his intellect. He was devoid of the charisma, the people skills and the fire that is necessary to excel and supplements the intelligence requirement.

This is completely pointless to debate, but I think you're wrong. And Einstein had tons of charisma, though I'll admit he is the exception for that group. And I'm not gonna fall into the fanboy group that thinks Belichick is secretly a personable and charismatic leader behind the scenes. The man is as dry and singular-minded as they come.

Regardless, if an NFL HC is successful, is at the top of his game, makes a lot of money and is respected by his peers and the general public, who the F are you or the arrogant a** from Rolling Stone to belittle his intelligence?

I'm nobody, but then again you could say that about the politicians you don't like, or the people at ESPN, or any group of successful, respected people that you aren't enamored with.

The bottom line? If Bill Belichick and Matt Taibbi were in the same room, Belichick would STILL be the smartest guy in the room.

And I'm not sure Taibbi would argue with that. I think you're overreacting to an article that is pretty complimentary to Belichick.

 

[Wildo7]

Quickly, now...name me all the NFL Head Coaches that got their jobs because they are "relatives of ex-athletes."

What an a**.

I mistyped that, I didn't mean "relatives of ex-athletes" I simply meant relatives of ex-coaches.

And you seem really pissed off for some reason, and incapable of discussing this without resorting to insults, so I think I'll end it with you here.

 

[Wildo7]

I see what you mean. We're not on the same exact page here, and I really have no idea what the collective IQs are of NFL coaches, but I see where you're coming from. Anyway, bottom line for me is there sure are alot of dumb people out there, but to me all intelligence is relative. So to widely claim that a group that has reached the pinnacle of its profession is not intelligent strikes me as intellectually lazy. Again, for me it all comes down to "what intelligence are we speaking of?"



Some people on message boards cannot handle a differing opinion, that's all. I was just kidding.

I just think that if the NFL would focus it's grooming of NFL head coaches from the student of the game and expert game planning model that Belichick comes from they would do better as a whole. That being said, I think the NFL is trending that way anyway.

 

[Patjew]

You guys should probably go to sleep. It's 2:45 PM here. What's your excuse for being awake?

 

[Wildo7]

You guys should probably go to sleep. It's 2:45 PM here. What's your excuse for being awake?

I'm actually in London right now, and woke up pretty early because I'm jet-lagged