Bill Belichick: Everybody's critic - possibly the best article ever

[everlong]

BTW this has been touched on before albeit in less detail.

Here's What Makes Patriots Coach Bill Belichick So Great - Business Insider


Longtime Pro Bowler Tony Gonzalez was assigned-punt blocking duties, which during the season is a task for the fringe roster players, and failed to block a teammate in practice. Belichick cursed and screamed at Gonzalez like he "was a piece of dirt."

Gonzales was enraged. He's the best tight end in football and missed a block in a practice for a meaningless game. He couldn't believe Belichick was taking things so seriously. Gonzalez fumed. So the next time they practiced that play, Gonzalez sought out a teammate and flattened him.

Gonzalez made sure to walk by Belichick, and he heard the coach whisper "nice block." Suddenly, Gonzalez felt gratified.

That ability to motivate any player, from a future hall-of-famer to a seventh-round rookie, is what truly makes Belchick the best coach in football.

 

[Fencer]

I had always wondered why Vrabel was never part of things like the beginning of the Baltimore game

In the specific case of the Baltimore game, that has nothing to do with relationship. It has to do with him not having been a Patriot when the others were.

 

[vyrago]

Apparently everyone is a hater today! i found this one article that is hating on Bill for his genius

H & V - Tom Coughlin v Bill Belichick

Guess I won't read this one.

 

[BradyFTW!]

The Belistrator loves to run a particular play when center Dan Koppen is supposed to be cleaning up the pocket, but is unable to make contact.

"We're waiting, Dan," Belichick delights in saying as the film runs. "Still waiting … still waiting …"

"Coach," Koppen finally responded after two years of seeing the clip, "no matter how many times you show this, I'm still not going to get there."

Wow, that's classic. Great line.

 

[vyrago]

That was great, and the comments from Vrabel were really interesting. It's good to hear that he no longer takes issue with the trade to KC. I would love to see him here as a defensive coach.

Bet THE Ohio State pays him more than the Patriots would.

 

[Dessalines]

Best thing I've read from here in a long time. Just sent it to my boss, and then thought maybe that wasn't the best idea I've had today

Gee, I just sent it to my boss as well, but I don't care, he's a big fan abd we're both being laid off, come March 9th. I'm going to retire but he'll still have to work. Oh well.... We both agree on this ======> GO PATS!

 

[Ivan]

Bet THE Ohio State pays him more than the Patriots would.

They may, and that's definitely where he wants to end up as a HC in my opinion, however depending on what is going on with Ohio State coaching he could well spend a few years working for Belichik. Who better to learn how to run an entire program from?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I would agree with everything you said expect this. Vrabel gets it now. He didn't get it then. I'm glad he came to the realization that everything happens for a reason. Like Vrabel and Vince at the time I was like WTF. Seeing him play in KC not so much however I still wonder given the locker room situation in 09 if Bill wishes he had that one back. AD according to Rosie wouldn't have been nearly the issue if either Seymour or especially Vrabel was around.

EDIT: I guess we are saying the same things just differently. Semantics always get in the way.

Yup, BB is human. Some of his moves had complex second or third order effects that he did not anticipate or had discounted too much.

We Patsfans went through phases. After the rash of SB wins, the failed coach of the Browns become omniscient. It]s taken a few years of misques for some of us to realize that even the best are not without flaws.

 

[unoriginal]

The Belistrator loves to run a particular play when center Dan Koppen is supposed to be cleaning up the pocket, but is unable to make contact.

"We're waiting, Dan," Belichick delights in saying as the film runs. "Still waiting … still waiting …"

"Coach," Koppen finally responded after two years of seeing clip, "no matter how many times you show this, I'm still not going to get there."

"Anybody, Dan? Anybody? Can you just hit somebody?" chortled Vrabel, in his best Belistrator voice. "That's one of my favorites.

My favourite quote ....

Coaches love picking on centers. That's a universal tendency in the film room.

 

[NinjaZX6R]

They may, and that's definitely where he wants to end up as a HC in my opinion, however depending on what is going on with Ohio State coaching he could well spend a few years working for Belichik. Who better to learn how to run an entire program from?

Urban Meyer has brought him back as a D line coach. He ain't anywhere unless his best friend Luke Fickell gets another HC gig.

He has a road named after him.

 

[unoriginal]

I don't necessarily agree with humiliation and degradation as a motivational technique, but I will say I can see how it helps build the team, because...

1) Nobody (especially Brady, but also including other vets) is off limits

2) The huge ego/me-first guys get upset, then get weeded out

Make no mistake, this humiliation tactic is a big part of what makes the team successful.

Every football team uses the film breakdown for teasing and humiliation. So much so that the normal thought for a football player after a mistake is "Oh god I hope that's not going to show up on film." But it almost always does.

 

[Funktopus]

I think you're misconstruing that...just because she wasn't in the room doesn't mean the quotes were "made up." She's reporting what players who WERE there told her was said.

And then retelling it as if she were there. That makes sense. thanks. In spite of wondering why she was in the film room, I enjoyed the story. Maybe it should have been obvious to me.:bricks:

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Yup, BB is human. Some of his moves had complex second or third order effects that he did not anticipate or had discounted too much.

We Patsfans went through phases. After the rash of SB wins, the failed coach of the Browns become omniscient. It]s taken a few years of misques for some of us to realize that even the best are not without flaws.

I think you're presuming too much because you assume he did not anticipate or discounted the potential effects. Risk reward. He takes a long view and knows what he and his system can live with and what they can't. Fans take the short view so not so much.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

When I was a boy, my dad loved to talk about the old Lombardi-lead GB Packers. Two stories he told over and over: The Ice Bowl (especially Kramer's block on Jethro Puh) and the stories of Lombardi's legendary coaching style, which was sometimes harsh and known to use more than a little "humiliation".

I think, in hindsight, my dad told me those stories as one of the ways he worked on making me a "man".

Now, I tell my son stories of how Belichick motivates his players, even TB (whose face adorns the calendar in my son's room).

He's the Lombardi of our era!


Man, this week is getting me all emotional.. Damn! So much for acting like a man, huh? :bricks:

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I think you're presuming too much because you assume he did not anticipate or discounted the potential effects. Risk reward. He takes a long view and knows what he and his system can live with and what they can't. Fans take the short view so not so much.

I say it's quite likely that BB did NOT anticipate the team's defensive culture deteriorating as much as it did post Vrabes and Sey. Remember his lament to TFB about the 2009 team's lack of toughness? Stuff like Vrabes departure, however much cap sense and end of productivity sense it may have seemed at the time had other consequences, a void of veteran character leadership on D as 37 and 54 were gone because of geezerhood. To BB's credit, it seems as if he's done a great rebuilding job in this area.

 

[patfanken]

One other comment on humiliation as a motivation technique.

Like any form of behavior modification by negative reinforcement, the technique only works when the subject knows what specific actions to take to remove the negative stimulus. In the case of a Patriots player, this involves, in a nutshell, fixing holes in one's game.

However, negative reinforcement has the key drawback of tainting the initiator in the subject's eyes. Essentially, the initiator is showing the subject he has a dark, vicious side, which the subject responds to in various ways. For the most part, the initiator does not escape without some sort of consequence.

This is also why negative reinforcement is typically accomplished through surrogates -- hatchet-men/enforcers, as it were. This leaves those in charge able to maintain the esteem and respect of the subject (i.e. "clean hands"), while surreptitiously using negative reinforcement to produce a desired outcome. Fascinting subject.

This is a great point,NEP and shows how egoless BB really is. HE is the one to take the mantle of the "bad guy", which leaves his assistants to provide all the positive reinforcement.

The truth is, you can't sustain negative reinforcement long term without inserting some positive reinforcement along with positive results. Players put up with the hard love coaching because they SEE positive results so often on Sunday. They also see what happens when they fix what's wrong. Instead of getting a pat on the back, the positive reinforcement is translated into getting more snaps. More snaps equates into getting better contracts. How much more positive can it get.

Think about it. How much would each of us want to work in the environment of a true "meritocracy". THAT's what they got down in Foxboro.

 

[Deus Irae]

This is a great point,NEP and shows how egoless BB really is. HE is the one to take the mantle of the "bad guy", which leaves his assistants to provide all the positive reinforcement.

The truth is, you can't sustain negative reinforcement long term without inserting some positive reinforcement along with positive results. Players put up with the hard love coaching because they SEE positive results so often on Sunday. They also see what happens when they fix what's wrong. Instead of getting a pat on the back, the positive reinforcement is translated into getting more snaps. More snaps equates into getting better contracts. How much more positive can it get.

Think about it. How much would each of us want to work in the environment of a true "meritocracy". THAT's what they got down in Foxboro.

In an honest system, no method of reinforcement is sustainable without positive results.

 

[patfanken]

But see, now we know why it happened. Vrabel got it, but on some level as his own time was winding down he forgot it and Bill sent him to a good place to come to that realization on his own. Somewhere he'd be worth what he was still making and more amenable to taking what he was worth thereafter if he wanted to keep playing. And for that reason, he probably could come back. It's hard for Bill to let those guys go. That is why guys who didn't ask for more or even volunteered to take less and remained finally got to come to the decision here on their own. The rest needed to figure it out somewhere else and hopefully put that all in perspective after the fact. Vrabel has. So did Branch while there was still time for him to come back as a player.

It's not easy to play for someone like that. Takes a particular mindset, someone driven to prove his critic wrong. But for those wired to, the reward if and when you to is more gratifying than all the smoke you didn't get blown up your ass for merely being talented.

More than THAT Mo. The trade allowed Vrabel to avoid the ignominy of being cut OR taking a pay cut to remain with the team. Also by being traded Vrabel was allowed to keep his $1MM roster bonus, and hefty salary for another 2 years.

I was surprised Vrabel had some hard feelings about the trade, since I supposed that he knew what BB was doing. It only shows that BB understands as a great teacher, that the best lessons are learned when the pupil figures it out for him for himself. This requires the teacher not only to be brilliant, but to be egoless, because it will take a long time before he gets any credit for doing his job so well.

 

[Mike the Brit]

This sounds pure Bill Parcells. And it's evidently also a technique that BB's disciples have copied -- though with less success (McDaniels and Mangini).

Clearly, it's a way of dealing with people that has to be used very carefully -- but all the signs are that BB does. The message has to be: we're all accountable (does he highlight coaching messups?) not: let's pick on this guy (that's bullying).

And while putting people under stress to get them to perform is a good plan, there's a big difference between doing the right thing when there's a game on the line and you have no time to think and being stressed by humiliation.

Bottom line: people can see that BB is doing what he's doing because he wants the team to win, not because he's got a fragile ego and he has to dominate. If it takes players some time to recognize that: too bad!

 

[MoLewisrocks]

More than THAT Mo. The trade allowed Vrabel to avoid the ignominy of being cut OR taking a pay cut to remain with the team. Also by being traded Vrabel was allowed to keep his $1MM roster bonus, and hefty salary for another 2 years.

I was surprised Vrabel had some hard feelings about the trade, since I supposed that he knew what BB was doing. It only shows that BB understands as a great teacher, that the best lessons are learned when the pupil figures it out for him for himself. This requires the teacher not only to be brilliant, but to be egoless, because it will take a long time before he gets any credit for doing his job so well.

You can understand it and even support it - when it gets dicey is when it's your turn to be the example. Bill loves his veterans, especially core defenders. Like I said before, it kills him to move on from them, and he doesn't unless something forces his hand. Their attitude changes or they lose sight of the goal or they just can't see their own decline. I think Vrabel was jettisoned because he asked for an extension. He had become more vocal over the years and was a locker room leader and when those guys become disgruntled they can become a negative force even if their play hasn't entirely slipped. He'd become pretty outspoken about union matters and while I don't think that was why he had to go I think it underscored for them why it might be time for him to go. Vrabes had become down the stretch one of the guys who to me didn't seem to be all in anymore. Still in, just not willing to preach the company line without expressing occasional reservations. Bill weights all that out. What you can still bring on the field vs. what you may be beginning to bring in the locker room. Same deal with Richard only to me that was way more obvious and that situation had been tenuous at best since 2005. Teambuilding wins championships, not talent collection or even retention sometimes.