Bill Belichick's problems

[Patters]

Knowing how beloved BB is here, let me say that no matter what direction the Pats are headed in, BB is clearly one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. If he had not led the Pats to victory in 3 Superbowls, our expectations would not be so high and the challenges to his excellence by other teams would not be so great.

As great as BB is, he risks entering his declining years unless he accepts that football is evolving. As Bob Dylan said, "He who's not busy being born is busy dying." I think right now, BB's approach has several limitations:

Injuries. It's no secret that his approach to football always leaves the Pats with more injuries than other teams. After 5 years, it's more than coincidence that we suffer so many injuries. Perhaps we need a little more finesse and a little less hard hitting so that we can field more talent in any given game.

Paranoia. BB runs an insular organization. He's very secretive, doesn't bring in new blood to get fresh ideas, and believes everybody is expendable. While his approach worked for several years, it now appears teams have found ways to attack BB's system. Football like everything else evolves, and unless BB wants to be another Joe Gibbs, he better start paying more attention to what the "next" generation of coaches is doing. He should bring in people to challenge his thinking.

Holding grudges. For a guy who is a master of deception, his apparent anger at Mangini for trying to woo some Pats staff to the Jets is over the top. While that makes little difference to the Pats, this same kind of resentment may have cost us Branch, Vinatieri, and Law, and was certainly a double-edged sword in 2001 when he suspended Terry Glenn. This year, at least once he appears to have benched Gabriel, Dillon, and Seymour for parts of games. BB seems to personalize things in a way that's sometimes counterproductive. He needs to win the hearts of the players, but he's only won their minds.

Uninspired. There's no way that BB can light a fire under a team. He can make the best cerebral arguments in the world, but he's no Charlie Weis. BB brings intellect to the team; Brady brings charisma, but the team lacks someone to fire them up. BB knows his strengths, but I don't think he has a good grasp of his limitations.

While the Pats could still surprise us as they have before, the team appears tired, careless, and uninspired. Maybe BB is simply holding back, preparing all his weapons for the post-season, maybe the players can do it without BB as they did in Superbowl XLI, but based on the last few weeks I think we have every right to be concerned.

 

[PATSNUTme]

Thanks for the psycobabble, Patters.

I think you are right and BB should get the entire Bob Dylan song book and model the rest of his carrer after those words of wisdom. "My back Pages" would be an excellent guide to the rest of his life.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Pretty much all football coaches are paranoid. That's the reality of the game now. Also, I wouldn't put too much into "motivation", because at this level, the players are able to self motivate more than you would think, and for big games, what I've seen of Belichick has been impressive. The biggest myth in football is the "rah rah" lockerroom speech. This simply doesn't happen. The lockerroom is for adjusting the gameplan and correcting mistakes, and I think our coach is the best in the business at that. You show me a coach who's talking about "winning one for the gipper" in today's football, and I'll show you a coach who's getting canned for losing games.

 

[Patfandango]

Respectfully disagree with the "psychobabble". I think BB does more to reinvent this team each year than any established coach in the NFL. I think we all lose sight of how difficult it is to win year after year in the NFL. The Steelers are a case in point. It is true that other teams are scheming better against us and with several BB disciples as competitors, their initimate knowledge of how BB thinks makes it all the more difficult. Yesterday, I think we tried to game plan to take Taylor out of the game. Saban compensated by rushing Roth.

I also don't think that the personal grudge thing is happening. The team sets avalue and doesn't exceed it. It is their business model and if anything, they don't let personal issues interfere with this mantra.

I agree with Michigan Dave that the motivational stuff is overrated and comes into play only occasionally. I can think of a couple of examples in previous years where BB has used this (e.g. the Super Bowl ring speech). Overall, the Pats recruit players that are highly coachable and don't rely on the Knute Rockne thing very often.

I don't think the Pats are holding back anything. Instead, they are a struggling team right now and we as afsd aren;t used to that happening in December. I'm hoping that they have the veteran presence to set things right, but it will be a challenge this year.

 

[thomas144]

There are so many appropriate lines from that song that I am posting the entire lyric as a public service:




Lyrics for: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool's gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proves to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to your ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their mark
Made everything from toy guns that spark
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not fergit
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despise their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platform ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me?

And if my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.



Incidentally, at Dylan's BU concert a few weeks ago, there was huge applause (at least among us old folks who know the lyrics) for "even the president of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked."

 

[MDD]

Uninspired. There's no way that BB can light a fire under a team. He can make the best cerebral arguments in the world, but he's no Charlie Weis. BB brings intellect to the team; Brady brings charisma, but the team lacks someone to fire them up. BB knows his strengths, but I don't think he has a good grasp of his limitations.

While there is a grain of truth in each of your other points, this is one of the most common misconceptions ever about the guy.

Parcells is a "screamah". Howd' that work out for him yesterday?

 

[SVN]

BB has made mistakes this season but lets not make him the 'problem' now. He is the most innovative coach of this decade in my opinion and suddenly he is not like a fish out of water..
When s**t hits the fan , all the intelligence and ability of the coaches doesnt help...stuff happens..he will reinvent himself if he thinks it will help the team..

 

[SVN]

While there is a grain of truth in each of your other points, this is one of the most common misconceptions ever about the guy.

Parcells is a "screamah". Howd' that work out for him yesterday?

or for cowher all these yrs before last yr...

 

[Michigan Dave]

BB has made mistakes this season but lets not make him the 'problem' now. He is the most innovative coach of this decade in my opinion and suddenly he is not like a fish out of water..
When s**t hits the fan , all the intelligence and ability of the coaches doesnt help...stuff happens..he will reinvent himself if he thinks it will help the team..

If anything, Belichick is a great asset now. There will be no panic, there will be no infighting, there WILL be an assessment of the mistakes that were made, and a plan to correct them. That is what we need.

 

[Mike the Brit]

If anything, Belichick is a great asset now. There will be no panic, there will be no infighting, there WILL be an assessment of the mistakes that were made, and a plan to correct them. That is what we need.

Great points, as always, Dave. I strongly agree that top athletes don't need a rah-rah screamer to motivate them (in fact, I don't think that most average ones do either). What really helps is when you go into the locker room at half-time and someone you trust says: this is what they're doing, and this is why we're not having success; if we do this, this and this, we'll win.

I think that yesterday brought home how deep the problems for this team are in a way that some people ("A win is a win") didn't want to accept after the Detroit game. And yes, while BB has done more than enough to have a free pass from me at least forever, it isn't just being a spoiled bandwagon fan to criticize the management of a team that was so clearly on top of the league a couple of years ago and now is so no longer.

But looking at the way in which the Patriots handled themselves in front of the press after the game, I was proud of them. No one made excuses; no one pointed the finger at anyone but themselves; even Ellis Hobbs, who had reasons to feel particularly disappointed, made it clear that he is a professional who accepts the decisions of the coach. You can be pretty sure that no one will be calling Ron Borges on his cell to whine about what is going on in the locker room.

Odd though it sounds, knowing how to lose is the best foundation for continuing to win. That is how Belichick has built this team.

 

[Michigan Dave]

Great points, as always, Dave. I strongly agree that top athletes don't need a rah-rah screamer to motivate them (in fact, I don't think that most average ones do either). What really helps is when you go into the locker room at half-time and someone you trust says: this is what they're doing, and this is why we're not having success; if we do this, this and this, we'll win.

I think that yesterday brought home how deep the problems for this team are in a way that some people ("A win is a win") didn't want to accept after the Detroit game. And yes, while BB has done more than enough to have a free pass from me at least forever, it isn't just being a spoiled bandwagon fan to criticize the management of a team that was so clearly on top of the league a couple of years ago and now is so no longer.

But looking at the way in which the Patriots handled themselves in front of the press after the game, I was proud of them. No one made excuses; no one pointed the finger at anyone but themselves; even Ellis Hobbs, who had reasons to feel particularly disappointed, made it clear that he is a professional who accepts the decisions of the coach. You can be pretty sure that no one will be calling Ron Borges on his cell to whine about what is going on in the locker room.

Odd though it sounds, knowing how to lose is the best foundation for continuing to win. That is how Belichick has built this team.

Yup. You're going to have these 'funks', and a team's identity is forged by how they handle them. This is the most critical point in the season. There are 2 ways we can go with this. The team can continue playing this way, and the season will be quite short, or they can commit to fixing the problem, and hopefully make a run. There is no one in the playoffs that they cannot beat, and there is no one in the playoffs that cannot beat them. I think they're getting this. I want to see a pissed off group of players this week, but a group that is holding their heads up, and has moved on.

 

[Oswlek]

I have nothing to add, but I just wanted to say that Michigan Dave is one of my favorite reads on this site.

 

[Michigan Dave]

I have nothing to add, but I just wanted to say that Michigan Dave is one of my favorite reads on this site.

Thank you. I appreciate that.

I love this site. You have no idea how frustrated I was until I found it. Most of my friends want to kill me (we have a private site setup for mainly college sports Michigan-Michigan State stuff) because of the frequency of my Pats posts. It's nice to have an outlet with people who...care.

 

[Oswlek]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

I love this site. You have no idea how frustrated I was until I found it. Most of my friends want to kill me (we have a private site setup for mainly college sports Michigan-Michigan State stuff) because of the frequency of my Pats posts. It's nice to have an outlet with people who...care.

It seems clear that you went to Michigan, but your posts seem to come from an "inside" point of view. Are you/Were you a coach there?

 

[Michigan Dave]

It seems clear that you went to Michigan, but your posts seem to come from an "inside" point of view. Are you/Were you a coach there?

No, but close to it. Here's my deal. I was set to play hockey as a walk-on at Michigan, but I injured my ankle the first week or so of practice to the point where I wouldn't be able to play again (ankles are kind of...important.) My HS football coach was a QB at Michigan in the 60s, and had taken a job as an associate athletic director. I asked him what he could do for me, and he offered me a spot as a student manager with the football team. I took that further, and began working with the QBs, and had a great interest in the game. I would run some scout team (I was an option QB in HS), and chart plays, and really was able to learn the offense, and they let me assist with recruiting/etc. I was planning on becoming a coach (my degree is in business/sports management), but as much as I love the game, the long hours don't appeal to me. I married right out of school, so I didn't think the best way to start my marriage was with a 18 hour a day job. I was offered grad assistant jobs at MSU and ND, but turned them down. I thought about getting into pro ball, and was offered a position with the Detroit Lions as basically assistant director of player development. I would've learned a lot, but I didn't feel the Lions' management was stable (go figure that 4 years later, Millen is STILL there.) So, here I am. Just Joe Fan, which is fine by me. I get to go to all Michigan games, road trip with my friends, and have Sunday Ticket, so I can watch the Pats play. Coaching is a great profession, but I'm better off as a fan.

 

[marty]

Good comments by both Mich and Britt. May I just add that while Patters is looking through a 1/2 empty glass right now, I'll continue to appreciate BB's never-ending thirst for knowledge, and his creative thinking when looking for that "edge" in his chosen profession.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

I dunno, I suddenly have this overwhelming urge to nap on a couch and look at Rorschach blots.

 

[Patters]

I'm most concerned about BB's insular approach. He loses Mangini, Weis, and Crennel, so who's our brain trust now? BB is a great coach, but so was Joe Gibbs, so was Bill Parcells. They were great not only because of their own skill, but because they had a superb brain trust. Who in the Pats organization is able to really challenge BB intellectually? I don't care how smart BB is, he needs people who will push his thinking and introduce a coaching dynamic that I fear the team lacks.

Sure, the team can go either way right now, and BB will prevent it from panicking, but that's not a solution. It may lay the groundwork for one, or it may build false confidence. Only time will tell. At some point, no matter how much one worships BB, he's still the guy in charge, and we have every right to expect the Pats to play better than they have over the last couple of weeks. I mean, come on, almost losing the Lions and being shut out by the Phins -- in December, no less. Even if the glass is half full, it's still half empty. Let's not forget that.

 

[oldskool138]

There is no one in the playoffs that they cannot beat, and there is no one in the playoffs that cannot beat them. I think they're getting this. I want to see a pissed off group of players this week, but a group that is holding their heads up, and has moved on.

You say there aren't teams the Pats can't beat that are going to be in the playoffs. I think you're overlooking the one team that has caused the Pats the most pain and suffering this year...Themselves. That's the team who beat them in Denver last year, not the Broncos. Due to all the fumbles, penalties and lack of identity or vision this year, it will likely be the Pats that knock themselves out of the playoffs and not Indy, Baltimore, San Diego, et al.

 

[SVN]

I'm most concerned about BB's insular approach. He loses Mangini, Weis, and Crennel, so who's our brain trust now? BB is a great coach, but so was Joe Gibbs, so was Bill Parcells. They were great not only because of their own skill, but because they had a superb brain trust. Who in the Pats organization is able to really challenge BB intellectually? I don't care how smart BB is, he needs people who will push his thinking and introduce a coaching dynamic that I fear the team lacks.

.

So what is the solution you suggest ? He should re adjust,get fiery and emotional and light a fire ?Get friendly with mangini ? not hold secrets anymore ? open all the injury reports ?Will that help the team and we block better against taylor ?

Thats not his style.He is having a bad season just like everyone else.He deserves blame sure for some stuff but to ask him change after winning 3 SB that too this recently is a bit overreacting. He assembled a good coaching staff in cleveland(regardless of their results then) and he will now ..if he finds someone/something will help he will introduce it to his team/system.
All coaches know their team's limitations and iam sure BB knows, just because he doesnt come out and say it doesnt mean he is clueless.He has to act like this in face of adversity and injury because his actions reflect on the team.Imagine him running like nuts on the sideline like tom coughlin ...?