Bill Belichick: Pure Football Genius

[Patters]

This article is from October, but I did a search for this article in the forum and couldn't find it, so I hope it's not a duplicate. At any rate, for all of us who admire Bill, it's a good article that makes some interesting observations.

Bill Belichick: Pure Football Genius | Psychology of Sports

Bill Belichick and his rag tag New England Patriots will be riding into Met Life Stadium this Sunday to face the New York Jets once again atop the AFC East. With a battered and bruised team and a no name receiving corps he continues to defy the odds and produce results.

Regarded as one of the greatest football coaches of his generation and thought of by many to be a football genius, Belichick has attained this status because —he is.

Those that are gifted and achieve the kind of success Belichick has share many of the same traits while possessing different kinds of personas. However, they generally have a philosophy, plan and program that they adhere to and stick with.

What is interesting to observe about Belichick is the interaction between his persona and his philosophy, because at times it can be difficult to discern the difference between the two.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

His famous cut off hoody also speaks to both his suspiciousness and compulsive tendencies.

And sometimes it just means he has short arms and likes to be warm.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think a big part about setting yourself up for a good job or life is the groundwork you lay and the decisions you make. No question BB is a tremendous tactician of a coach and has an outstanding philosophy of how to plan, build and run a football team. Sometimes he gets too much credit. Sometimes he gets too little.

For example, when people say, "Without Brady, the Pats would suck this year." or "Brady covers up a lot of Belichick's bad draft years". Well, that may be true. However you can say that in 2008 they went in 11-5 without TB. In addition, BB was the one who drafted him, decided to keep him in 2000, hired the coaches to work him, implemented the offense that played to his strengths and drafted and signed the players that could operate at the same level as he.

Same goes for all the great coaches. Where would Lombardi be without Bart Starr? Noll without Bradshaw? Was Shula lucky or brilliant when he picked up journeyman Earl Morrell who filled in for Griese during the 1972 season?

I think the common denominator is that great coaches are adept at recognizing how talent fits into their "system" and how to maximize it's potential. My statement is by no means a revelation but when you look at all the crappy teams in the league, the ones that can pick talent and assimilate that talent (and buy into) an effective system consistently are the ones who win consistently.