Pats Pulpit: Belichick, Iowa State, and the future of defensive football

Exceptional article. Well worth the read, although it's a bit long.

Bill Belichick, Iowa State and the future of defensive football

Excellent find. This article helps further explain why ANOTHER CB figured so high for the Pats, even though the position seemed stacked before the draft. Once again, Bill seems to be ahead of his peers in understanding what needs to be done as the game evolves.

patfanken said:

Excellent find. This article helps further explain why ANOTHER CB figured so high for the Pats, even though the position seemed stacked before the draft. Once again, Bill seems to be ahead of his peers in understanding what needs to be done as the game evolves.

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You beat me to it. But having a coach that not only understands and can teach a scheme but understands the sport on a transcendent level to the point where he keeps evolving his approach year-in and year-out is what makes BB the GOAT.

I mean he has consistently moved ahead of the curve for almost two decades now finding market inefficiencies because of his "zags" that put him into a position to construct competitive team after competitive team even if the parts sometimes look decisively average.


In terms of the topic I feel like this is just a natural evolution of what BB has been dabbling in for a while now with the white whale that is a hybrid lb&safety/STAR. Great read @reamer!

patfanken said:

Excellent find. This article helps further explain why ANOTHER CB figured so high for the Pats, even though the position seemed stacked before the draft. Once again, Bill seems to be ahead of his peers in understanding what needs to be done as the game evolves.

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Coverage is king in the NFL.

This scheme is like if Rex Ryan started taking brain pills. It sounds like a stupid comparison, but I distinctly remember those early 2010s Jets defenses having very amorphous fronts with pass rush primarily generated through confusion and coverage.

Hey that’s my Alma mater! Awesome reading this. Made it to a few games this year. Can absolutely say that Iowa State is the only team in the Big 12 that can play some semblance of defense.

Watch the game vs. Will Grier’s West Virginia offense for good measure. Reminded me of how we played vs. Mahomes in the first half of each of those matchups this year.

patfanken said:

Once again, Bill seems to be ahead of his peers in understanding what needs to be done as the game evolves.

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luuked said:

. . . having a coach that not only understands and can teach a scheme but understands the sport on a transcendent level to the point where he keeps evolving his approach year-in and year-out is what makes BB the GOAT.

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Elijah said:

This scheme is like if Rex Ryan started taking brain pills. It sounds like a stupid comparison, but I distinctly remember those early 2010s Jets defenses having very amorphous fronts with pass rush primarily generated through confusion and coverage.

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Re: offense, we've discussed that instead of replacing Gronk, the Patriots will adapt to showcase other positions. The same is likely true of the defense. We're worried about replacing departed players, but Belichick isn't resting on his laurels. Football may never see another mind like his -- he's very good at not only breaking things down into simple concepts, but also constantly innovating to find ways to combat trends. Those two skills combined allow him tremendous flexibility in teaching fundamentally sound players to operate within new schemes.

Leadership lessons abound, even apart from football.

I'd argue that the importance of passing hasn't changed, but rather the volume of passing has and the inordinate amount of yellow flags has precipitated this. Not much different than when BB as Giant's D coordinator dared the Bills to run and emphasized stopping the pass first.

What used to be a nickel package has now become a base package, and being able to pass in the playoffs when traditionally defense's were good enough to stonewall the run has always existed.

In the face of all this BB has taken a different tact, a throwback, become a powerful running team that can still throw accurately.

Football doesn't change that much or very rapidly, it happens slowly over time.

reamer said:

Re: offense, we've discussed that instead of replacing Gronk, the Patriots will adapt to showcase other positions. The same is likely true of the defense. We're worried about replacing departed players, but Belichick isn't resting on his laurels. Football may never see another mind like his -- he's very good at not only breaking things down into simple concepts, but also constantly innovating to find ways to combat trends. Those two skills combined allow him tremendous flexibility in teaching fundamentally sound players to operate within new schemes.

Leadership lessons abound, even apart from football.

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THAT is exactly why football is really the "beautiful game", because it isn't always about who has the most talent like in the NBA, MLB, or NHL. It's about using the talent you HAVE to create a winning team.

That why this Superbowl was so stunning. They didn't play a team in the playoffs who didn't have several more "all pro" type players on their rosters than they did, and yet they beat them all. Hell this was the same roster that was CRUSHED by the Lions and Titans. And lost 5 games to teams that DIDN'T make the playoffs

Coaching has a lot to do with how all sports are played. But in football, coaching has a uniquely larger effect than other team sports. In no other sport does the success of the individual rely on so many OTHER players than football.

Given the fact that ANYONE good enough to make an NFL roster is a great football player, pulling those 53 players into a functioning winner REQUIRES great coaching. Sadly, the Celtics this season were a perfect example where we saw the TALENT not reaching its potential because they never became a true TEAM. And that is in a league where individual talent is king. The importance of TEAM building in magnified many times over in football.

Long ago the media and sports marketing gurus decided that focusing individual players drove interest, increased ratings, and moved product. History has proven them right...in those areas. However the casualty of that economic decision has been the importance of team building and how it affects actual winning. The cult of the individual abounds. But here in NE, we are blessed with an old school guy who GETS what is really important. Unfortunately for us, after 20 years , others are FINALLY starting to get it too. Just listened to the respect all things the Pats do are getting....even on BSPN.

reamer said:

We're worried about replacing departed players, but Belichick isn't resting on his laurels. Football may never see another mind like his

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Twenty years and six championships later, he is as hungry as ever. We should feel so fortunate that he hasn't lost his edge. One thing is for certain, we will never see another golden age like the one we're enjoying now.

reamer said:

Exceptional article. Well worth the read, although it's a bit long.

Bill Belichick, Iowa State and the future of defensive football

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Can you please explain what they mean by a 5-0-4i or 4i-0-4i alignment on the front? Is that the gap alignment of the DL? I assume the 0 is NT on C, is the 4i inside of the tackles and 5 is on the tackles?

Its articles like this that lead me to lean towards BB as the answer to the age old question of who is the main reason for the Pats success: BB or Brady? I mean, Brady is the GOAT but there is so much more involved in the game as stated by @patfanken that makes it at least a 60-40 factor in favor of BB. Not trying to derail the thread going down this road, it's just my opinion, as I'm sure there are 100s of different ones out there.

venecol said:

Its articles like this that lead me to lean towards BB as the answer to the age old question of who is the main reason for the Pats success: BB or Brady? I mean, Brady is the GOAT but there is so much more involved in the game as stated by @patfanken that makes it at least a 60-40 factor in favor of BB. Not trying to derail the thread going down this road, it's just my opinion, as I'm sure there are 100s of different ones out there.

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I have come to think of it as a blessing and curse to both of them. Yes, they both greatly benefit from each other, but in the same vein, they will never be known without the other.

venecol said:

Its articles like this that lead me to lean towards BB as the answer to the age old question of who is the main reason for the Pats success: BB or Brady? I mean, Brady is the GOAT but there is so much more involved in the game as stated by @patfanken that makes it at least a 60-40 factor in favor of BB. Not trying to derail the thread going down this road, it's just my opinion, as I'm sure there are 100s of different ones out there.

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We'll never know the exact answer. The only thing we know is that BB had limited success as a head coach until Brady arrived.

venecol said:

Its articles like this that lead me to lean towards BB as the answer to the age old question of who is the main reason for the Pats success: BB or Brady? I mean, Brady is the GOAT but there is so much more involved in the game as stated by @patfanken that makes it at least a 60-40 factor in favor of BB. Not trying to derail the thread going down this road, it's just my opinion, as I'm sure there are 100s of different ones out there.

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the reason for success is a combination of both......neither would enjoy the same level of success without the other.......one is scheme and the other is execution. the pats maybe don't win the most recent super bowl if McDaniels doesn't draw up some plays on the sideline and the defense comes up with a way to neutralize a top offense. Still, Brady has to go out and make the throws and everyone has to do their jobs.

the question of whether it's one or the other is pointless. It takes more than one element for this kind of success on the football field

I would love to know what kind of interactions NE has with college staffs that successfully deploy new schemes. Does BB ever bring home in a college staff and spend a day brain storming... with both sides sharing?
I would also like to know how much credit Flores deserves for the creativity we saw last year. This casual observer felt Patricia’s schemes were risk averse compared to last year.

Thank you!

The bottom line seems to be that you can defend the pass and stop the run with 3-3-3, but that your pass rush then has to come from disguised blitzing. Certainly, it seems like a good weapon to have in the arsenal, though I wonder if there are ways of countering it (how would it match up against the RPO?)

venecol said:

Can you please explain what they mean by a 5-0-4i or 4i-0-4i alignment on the front? Is that the gap alignment of the DL? I assume the 0 is NT on C, is the 4i inside of the tackles and 5 is on the tackles?

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You more or less have it. Here's a chart to make it a little easier to understand at a glance:

The 7 being inside the 6 and having no 8 is blowing my mind.

venecol said:

Can you please explain what they mean by a 5-0-4i or 4i-0-4i alignment on the front? Is that the gap alignment of the DL? I assume the 0 is NT on C, is the 4i inside of the tackles and 5 is on the tackles?

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Lined up even on the center is 0, on guard is 2 and 4 for tackle. If you are in between the guard and center that is 1, 3 is between guard and tackle, 5 is outside of the tackle/between tackle and tight end. 4i is lining up on the inside half of the body of the tackle. Roughly speaking, these are what these terms are alluding to.

The Wide 9 is the GOAT alignment of course.