What if each time he says it, the person he's describing has simply surpassed the previous guy who had achieved the status of "the guy no one works harder than"? What if no one worked harder than that guy, until one day someone else did, and the media just happens to keep asking about these hard workers in successive order as they surpass one another?
A few years ago: Creating Bill Belichick's Perfect Player in a Lab
"Nobody practices harder than Rodney. I don't think, in my career, I have ever coached a player that practices any harder than Rodney practices on a daily basis."
If you think about it Belichick's press conferences player analysis aren't really much different than Gruden's analysis of players. At least Belichick spares us the corny nicknames. Although he does occasionally say someone like FredEx is trash.
I don't remember the player but a few years ago, he said that about someone and they cut the guy the same day. I am searching for it. I don't know if it was Crable or Tate.