the critical importance of mental toughness in the NFL

[patfanken]

Let's get real here. EVERY player who makes an NFL roster is both a great athlete, AND a great football player. They all are prepared to the max physically and they all get great coaching, despite what we say all the time. Guys who can coach in the NFL are ALL great coaches, who spend 80 weeks working at their craft during the season, and 40 hour weeks learning from other coaches, after the season. I coached for 20 years and was always astounded by how much I still didn't know and how much new stuff was always appearing. And I was just a HS coach and spent a fraction of the time these "professional's" do.(though according to my wife, it was WAY too much time. ) So even the guys we sometimes make fun of know a TON of football or they would be where they are.

So what I'm saying is, every week, regardless of who we play, the challenge to win is always there. The old adage says, "on any given Sunday", couldn't be more true, and if Sunday night didn't prove that, nothing will. If you don't come prepared mentally as well as physically, the worst team in the league can beat the best one. That is how good EVERYONE is. Even physically the gap between the best and worst might be 5%.

So I got to thinking about the win the other night because I fell into the conventional wisdom of looking at the line up of back ups and rookies the Pats put out there and tried to figure out exactly how they managed to win a close game that wouldn't have even been that close if the Pats didn't lose the TO battle by 2, and the refs had called the game evenly.

Then it struck me when I watched the locker room video thread today. It was something BB said that hit home. It was dry and unemotional, but it perhaps defines the difference in the Pats program and thus explains, to a small degree, the reason for their success. To paraphrase, Bill said, "Great job, etc, but don't forget that a lot of the work we did this week on the practice field, meetings, and film time was just as important to the victory as the work we put in on the field tonight."

We as fans were intimidated by the task that playing the Cardinals at home, without our 2 best players, our 2 OG, our starting RG, and starting DE. Having to start 2 rookies on the OL, and 2 suspect back ups, in ADDITION to a QB starting his first NFL game; made the task virtually impossible unless every break went the Pats way....which it obviously didn't. So what gave us that outcome, because if you watch that video, THOSE guys weren't surprised at all by the outcome. They were happy, but NOT surprised.

1. Bill has created a program where the term "the next man up" isn't just a cliche. Through the coaching process, EVERY man to the team is coached to BELIEVE that the are accountable to do their job, and when asked to do it, they are fully prepared to excel to the best of their ability

2. Bill and his staff has also earned the credibility of his team, so they believe in the game plan. So unlike us, when they went through their Saturday walk through, and Bill said, "Listen guys, if you do A, B, C, and D, like we practiced all week, and execute all three phases of the game plan, you can win this game"; those 53 guys BELIEVED it. Those 53 guys and the staff might have been the only ones who felt that if they just "did their jobs" they SHOULD win.

3. In the end it all comes down to MENTAL TOUGHNESS, something that has been major advantage for the Pats in every BB coached team, with the possible exceptions of the 2002 and 2009 teams. Every week the contest in the NFL is usually close the entire game. The pressure to execute increases with every passing quarter. Given the virtual parity of the physical portion of the game, most games are decided because one team executes better under that severe pressure than the other. They have the "mental toughness" to keep their discipline despite the pressure, the mental toughness to believe in their coaching, and the mental toughness to "ignore the noise".

4. This is why I still love the game so much. It is also why I am in such awe of the job BB does, because from the start be BUILDS that mental toughness, mostly just through simple hard work. Every guy who survives to the 53 knows just how much work it took to get there, so they are all supremely confident in their own abilities, even if we aren't. And then he puts them away into the cocoon of the Patriot Way, where the influences of the outside can't trample on the mental mindset that he trying to build.

Football is such a great game just because "the best team" doesn't always win. Why simply going down the line and comparing, "well we are better here, here, here, so we should win the game, just doesn't work. It's a game where the sum of the team will be greater than the individual parts. AND as we know on bad teams, with no mental toughness, the sum can be worse than the individual parts.

If BB was a coach of another sport, I believe he'd have been equally successful, but I doubt he would have coached so long. He's still doing the job because he KNOWS that football is the game where coaching has the most influence on the outcomes of games. Much more than an other sport. He loves it because he can still be an effective teacher and influencer of men. What he does MATTERS, and it matters on the field on Sundays.

Bill isn't one of those HC's who observes, delegates, and decides (well he does that too). He actually coaches guys, and gets his hands dirty. Anyone who has ever been to a preseason practice knows this about Bill. He is an active participant in the day to day operation of the team's preparation......AND THE TEAM KNOWS IT.

BOTTOM LINE: The equation is simple. In a battle of physical equals, the team with the better mental toughness will usually win. Our biggest advantage over the years is we've had a HC/CEO, who believes, and actively strives for it in his program. The results are not always perfect, as we know; but they've been as good as they can get, in the environment that we have to work with. And lucky for us.

BTW- this became a lot longer that I thought it would be, but really the subject is extensive enough for it to be a book. As we saw so often on Sunday how the gap between winning and losing is so minute, it is hard not to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness on the overall success of a franchise.

 

[MassPats38]

Ken-

The points above mirror much of what was discussed in in the documentary on Lombardi (HBO, I think). As told by Madden, who attended an 8-hour session taught by Lombardi, coaches entered that session believing they had it all figured out and left wondering what they needed to do to prepare in the future because the entire session involved everything needed to properly execute a single sweep. That session is discussed here.

Equally impressive was he coached a basketball team to a State championship with virtually no basketball coaching experience. He studied, prepared, coached and succeeded. I think Lombardi and BB have more in common than many haters would like to admit. They both are a cut above the rest of their contemporaries.

It is clear BB loves the sport and preaches what it takes to get there. There are no surprises because he understands the game as well as anyone could. Everything else is preparation, execution and attitude from players carefully selected for their ability to accept teaching and coaching. That is the Patriot Way.

 

[luuked]

What you slightly touch upon is one of my pet peeves around fan forums. People tend to reduce players down to the roles they have on Sundays because that's the only time those players are visible to them. And that's what they judge those players on, not realizing that there is so much more to this sport than the actual gameday.

 

[zydecochris]

Let's get real here. EVERY player who makes an NFL roster is both a great athlete, AND a great football player. They all are prepared to the max physically and they all get great coaching, despite what we say all the time. Guys who can coach in the NFL are ALL great coaches, who spend 80 weeks working at their craft during the season, and 40 hour weeks learning from other coaches, after the season. I coached for 20 years and was always astounded by how much I still didn't know and how much new stuff was always appearing. And I was just a HS coach and spent a fraction of the time these "professional's" do.(though according to my wife, it was WAY too much time. ) So even the guys we sometimes make fun of know a TON of football or they would be where they are.

So what I'm saying is, every week, regardless of who we play, the challenge to win is always there. The old adage says, "on any given Sunday", couldn't be more true, and if Sunday night didn't prove that, nothing will. If you don't come prepared mentally as well as physically, the worst team in the league can beat the best one. That is how good EVERYONE is. Even physically the gap between the best and worst might be 5%.

So I got to thinking about the win the other night because I fell into the conventional wisdom of looking at the line up of back ups and rookies the Pats put out there and tried to figure out exactly how they managed to win a close game that wouldn't have even been that close if the Pats didn't lose the TO battle by 2, and the refs had called the game evenly.

Then it struck me when I watched the locker room video thread today. It was something BB said that hit home. It was dry and unemotional, but it perhaps defines the difference in the Pats program and thus explains, to a small degree, the reason for their success. To paraphrase, Bill said, "Great job, etc, but don't forget that a lot of the work we did this week on the practice field, meetings, and film time was just as important to the victory as the work we put in on the field tonight."

We as fans were intimidated by the task that playing the Cardinals at home, without our 2 best players, our 2 OG, our starting RG, and starting DE. Having to start 2 rookies on the OL, and 2 suspect back ups, in ADDITION to a QB starting his first NFL game; made the task virtually impossible unless every break went the Pats way....which it obviously didn't. So what gave us that outcome, because if you watch that video, THOSE guys weren't surprised at all by the outcome. They were happy, but NOT surprised.

1. Bill has created a program where the term "the next man up" isn't just a cliche. Through the coaching process, EVERY man to the team is coached to BELIEVE that the are accountable to do their job, and when asked to do it, they are fully prepared to excel to the best of their ability

2. Bill and his staff has also earned the credibility of his team, so they believe in the game plan. So unlike us, when they went through their Saturday walk through, and Bill said, "Listen guys, if you do A, B, C, and D, like we practiced all week, and execute all three phases of the game plan, you can win this game"; those 53 guys BELIEVED it. Those 53 guys and the staff might have been the only ones who felt that if they just "did their jobs" they SHOULD win.

3. In the end it all comes down to MENTAL TOUGHNESS, something that has been major advantage for the Pats in every BB coached team, with the possible exceptions of the 2002 and 2009 teams. Every week the contest in the NFL is usually close the entire game. The pressure to execute increases with every passing quarter. Given the virtual parity of the physical portion of the game, most games are decided because one team executes better under that severe pressure than the other. They have the "mental toughness" to keep their discipline despite the pressure, the mental toughness to believe in their coaching, and the mental toughness to "ignore the noise".

4. This is why I still love the game so much. It is also why I am in such awe of the job BB does, because from the start be BUILDS that mental toughness, mostly just through simple hard work. Every guy who survives to the 53 knows just how much work it took to get there, so they are all supremely confident in their own abilities, even if we aren't. And then he puts them away into the cocoon of the Patriot Way, where the influences of the outside can't trample on the mental mindset that he trying to build.

Football is such a great game just because "the best team" doesn't always win. Why simply going down the line and comparing, "well we are better here, here, here, so we should win the game, just doesn't work. It's a game where the sum of the team will be greater than the individual parts. AND as we know on bad teams, with no mental toughness, the sum can be worse than the individual parts.

If BB was a coach of another sport, I believe he'd have been equally successful, but I doubt he would have coached so long. He's still doing the job because he KNOWS that football is the game where coaching has the most influence on the outcomes of games. Much more than an other sport. He loves it because he can still be an effective teacher and influencer of men. What he does MATTERS, and it matters on the field on Sundays.

Bill isn't one of those HC's who observes, delegates, and decides (well he does that too). He actually coaches guys, and gets his hands dirty. Anyone who has ever been to a preseason practice knows this about Bill. He is an active participant in the day to day operation of the team's preparation......AND THE TEAM KNOWS IT.

BOTTOM LINE: The equation is simple. In a battle of physical equals, the team with the better mental toughness will usually win. Our biggest advantage over the years is we've had a HC/CEO, who believes, and actively strives for it in his program. The results are not always perfect, as we know; but they've been as good as they can get, in the environment that we have to work with. And lucky for us.

BTW- this became a lot longer that I thought it would be, but really the subject is extensive enough for it to be a book. As we saw so often on Sunday how the gap between winning and losing is so minute, it is hard not to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness on the overall success of a franchise.

Great stuff as always Ken. The flavor of this particular one reminds me a bit of the column that Mike Lombardi used to write for the National Football Post years ago (later on he wrote for NFL.com, but those were less interesting, more sanitized columns). Whatever you think of him as a GM (or his tenure on the Pats), IMHO Lombardi was a great, informative, educational read, just like you are.

Along those lines, do you do any football related writing (or have you thought about it) apart from this website? If nothing else, create some type of blog aimed at a larger audience? I think you would automatically have a fair number of interested followers from Patsfan.com (including me). I just was wondering if you have thought about it.

 

[n6249c]

...

BTW- this became a lot longer that I thought it would be, but really the subject is extensive enough for it to be a book. As we saw so often on Sunday how the gap between winning and losing is so minute, it is hard not to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness on the overall success of a franchise.

Ken-

The points above mirror much of what was discussed in in the documentary on Lombardi (HBO, I think). As told by Madden, who attended an 8-hour session taught by Lombardi, coaches entered that session believing they had it all figured out and left wondering what they needed to do to prepare in the future because the entire session involved everything needed to properly execute a single sweep. That session is discussed here.

Equally impressive was he coached a basketball team to a State championship with virtually no basketball coaching experience. He studied, prepared, coached and succeeded. I think Lombardi and BB have more in common than many haters would like to admit. They both are a cut above the rest of their contemporaries.

It is clear BB loves the sport and preaches what it takes to get there. There are no surprises because he understands the game as well as anyone could. Everything else is preparation, execution and attitude from players carefully selected for their ability to accept teaching and coaching. That is the Patriot Way.

Great stuff as always Ken. ...

Along those lines, do you do any football related writing (or have you thought about it) apart from this website? If nothing else, create some type of blog aimed at a larger audience? I think you would automatically have a fair number of interested followers from Patsfan.com (including me). I just was wondering if you have thought about it.

Add my vote to the calls for you to write that book. Let me know if I can help in any way. You've got a good hook right there in the comparison of Belichick and Lombardi. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find some other examples if you looked at guys like Halas and Graham and Ditka... Should be plenty of good material. Go for it!

 

[PScottman]

Bill isn't one of those HC's who observes, delegates, and decides (well he does that too). He actually coaches guys, and gets his hands dirty. Anyone who has ever been to a preseason practice knows this about Bill. He is an active participant in the day to day operation of the team's preparation......AND THE TEAM KNOWS IT.

I wanted to expand upon this point a bit - workers, no matter the occupation, respect management that works as hard or harder than they do. It's a simple, but oft overlooked aspect of Belichick. I think it was one of last year's documentaries that spoke of the fact that BB and other staff members often slept at the facility - working through the night on game plans, film, practice agendas, whatever.

When the top guy is setting that kind of example; the baseline expectation just from day one is tremendous and beyond reproach. Competitive fire kicks in. The top player doesn't want to suffer the disrespect of being the second guy at the facility so he stays late too...wash, rinse, repeat. Suddenly it's CULTURE! Now forces such as peer pressure, culture norms, and alpha instinct kick in and it's a constant race to the top - even among the so-called lower half of the roster.

 

[bbobbo]

Football is such a great game just because "the best team" doesn't always win. Why simply going down the line and comparing, "well we are better here, here, here, so we should win the game, just doesn't work. It's a game where the sum of the team will be greater than the individual parts. AND as we know on bad teams, with no mental toughness, the sum can be worse than the individual parts.

in other words, "WE ARE BUILDING A TEAM--—NOT COLLECTING TALENT"

 

[n6249c]

I wanted to expand upon this point a bit - workers, no matter the occupation, respect management that works as hard or harder than they do. It's a simple, but oft overlooked aspect of Belichick. I think it was one of last year's documentaries that spoke of the fact that BB and other staff members often slept at the facility - working through the night on game plans, film, practice agendas, whatever.

When the top guy is setting that kind of example; the baseline expectation just from day one is tremendous and beyond reproach. Competitive fire kicks in. The top player doesn't want to suffer the disrespect of being the second guy at the facility so he stays late too...wash, rinse, repeat. Suddenly it's CULTURE! Now forces such as peer pressure, culture norms, and alpha instinct kick in and it's a constant race to the top - even among the so-called lower half of the roster.

in other words, lead by example. actions, not words.

 

[nabwong]

Good read. I'd like to add another point to. I think accountability also spills over to this forum. I know at times, we're silly for the sake of just being silly. But we're never jets forum silly. The posters on this forum take pride in relaying factual information and participating in good arguments. Ian, Miguel, patfanken, the mods, etc. I can't give you guys enough props.

 

[luuked]

Good read. I'd like to add another point to. I think accountability also spills over to this forum. I know at times, we're silly for the sake of just being silly. But we're never jets forum silly. The posters on this forum take pride in relaying factual information and participating in good arguments. Ian, Miguel, patfanken, the mods, etc. I can't give you guys enough props.

And then every season at some point you get the prize-worthy, legendary posts like "I don't care. I can't stand it."

 

[nabwong]

And then every season at some point you get the prize-worthy, legendary posts like "I don't care. I can't stand it."

I can deal with a few. Almost every post on jets forum is like that.

 

[PScottman]

in other words, lead by example. actions, not words.

There may be a day where I can choose to just use a few distinct words to convey a point instead of 500, but I'm not sure when that day will be.

 

[Galeb]

Good stuff, but it's not exactly a revelation. BB and many of the players, especially Brady, have repeatedly stated that performance in games was based on the hard work and practice put in during the week.

IMO, the critical importance of mental toughness isn't confined to just the NFL, but is needed in all aspects of life. It's something that my generation has less of than previous generations, and whose rate of decay has increased in the following generations. I wonder how much of the team's mental toughness is because of the players chosen vs. how much is imbued by the coaching/team culture.

 

[Pat the Pats Fan]

Pfk, I agree with others, if you ever decided to write a book or a blog, it would have an instant audience. Well done sir!

 

[DarrylS]

Part of all of this is that his coaching staff reflects this basic philosophy.. Patricia a rocket scientist, the John Carroll alumni Daboll, McDaniels, Caserio etc... the whole staff seems smarter than most staffs and can convey the philosophy of BB to the players.... then there are the players who buy in.

The complication of this system arises from the incorrect interpretation of the philosophy and the lack of buy in by the players. "Football intelligence" is something that the Patriots look for..

 

[Tunescribe]

Let's get real here. EVERY player who makes an NFL roster is both a great athlete, AND a great football player. They all are prepared to the max physically and they all get great coaching, despite what we say all the time. Guys who can coach in the NFL are ALL great coaches, who spend 80 weeks working at their craft during the season, and 40 hour weeks learning from other coaches, after the season. I coached for 20 years and was always astounded by how much I still didn't know and how much new stuff was always appearing. And I was just a HS coach and spent a fraction of the time these "professional's" do.(though according to my wife, it was WAY too much time. ) So even the guys we sometimes make fun of know a TON of football or they would be where they are.

So what I'm saying is, every week, regardless of who we play, the challenge to win is always there. The old adage says, "on any given Sunday", couldn't be more true, and if Sunday night didn't prove that, nothing will. If you don't come prepared mentally as well as physically, the worst team in the league can beat the best one. That is how good EVERYONE is. Even physically the gap between the best and worst might be 5%.

So I got to thinking about the win the other night because I fell into the conventional wisdom of looking at the line up of back ups and rookies the Pats put out there and tried to figure out exactly how they managed to win a close game that wouldn't have even been that close if the Pats didn't lose the TO battle by 2, and the refs had called the game evenly.

Then it struck me when I watched the locker room video thread today. It was something BB said that hit home. It was dry and unemotional, but it perhaps defines the difference in the Pats program and thus explains, to a small degree, the reason for their success. To paraphrase, Bill said, "Great job, etc, but don't forget that a lot of the work we did this week on the practice field, meetings, and film time was just as important to the victory as the work we put in on the field tonight."

We as fans were intimidated by the task that playing the Cardinals at home, without our 2 best players, our 2 OG, our starting RG, and starting DE. Having to start 2 rookies on the OL, and 2 suspect back ups, in ADDITION to a QB starting his first NFL game; made the task virtually impossible unless every break went the Pats way....which it obviously didn't. So what gave us that outcome, because if you watch that video, THOSE guys weren't surprised at all by the outcome. They were happy, but NOT surprised.

1. Bill has created a program where the term "the next man up" isn't just a cliche. Through the coaching process, EVERY man to the team is coached to BELIEVE that the are accountable to do their job, and when asked to do it, they are fully prepared to excel to the best of their ability

2. Bill and his staff has also earned the credibility of his team, so they believe in the game plan. So unlike us, when they went through their Saturday walk through, and Bill said, "Listen guys, if you do A, B, C, and D, like we practiced all week, and execute all three phases of the game plan, you can win this game"; those 53 guys BELIEVED it. Those 53 guys and the staff might have been the only ones who felt that if they just "did their jobs" they SHOULD win.

3. In the end it all comes down to MENTAL TOUGHNESS, something that has been major advantage for the Pats in every BB coached team, with the possible exceptions of the 2002 and 2009 teams. Every week the contest in the NFL is usually close the entire game. The pressure to execute increases with every passing quarter. Given the virtual parity of the physical portion of the game, most games are decided because one team executes better under that severe pressure than the other. They have the "mental toughness" to keep their discipline despite the pressure, the mental toughness to believe in their coaching, and the mental toughness to "ignore the noise".

4. This is why I still love the game so much. It is also why I am in such awe of the job BB does, because from the start be BUILDS that mental toughness, mostly just through simple hard work. Every guy who survives to the 53 knows just how much work it took to get there, so they are all supremely confident in their own abilities, even if we aren't. And then he puts them away into the cocoon of the Patriot Way, where the influences of the outside can't trample on the mental mindset that he trying to build.

Football is such a great game just because "the best team" doesn't always win. Why simply going down the line and comparing, "well we are better here, here, here, so we should win the game, just doesn't work. It's a game where the sum of the team will be greater than the individual parts. AND as we know on bad teams, with no mental toughness, the sum can be worse than the individual parts.

If BB was a coach of another sport, I believe he'd have been equally successful, but I doubt he would have coached so long. He's still doing the job because he KNOWS that football is the game where coaching has the most influence on the outcomes of games. Much more than an other sport. He loves it because he can still be an effective teacher and influencer of men. What he does MATTERS, and it matters on the field on Sundays.

Bill isn't one of those HC's who observes, delegates, and decides (well he does that too). He actually coaches guys, and gets his hands dirty. Anyone who has ever been to a preseason practice knows this about Bill. He is an active participant in the day to day operation of the team's preparation......AND THE TEAM KNOWS IT.

BOTTOM LINE: The equation is simple. In a battle of physical equals, the team with the better mental toughness will usually win. Our biggest advantage over the years is we've had a HC/CEO, who believes, and actively strives for it in his program. The results are not always perfect, as we know; but they've been as good as they can get, in the environment that we have to work with. And lucky for us.

BTW- this became a lot longer that I thought it would be, but really the subject is extensive enough for it to be a book. As we saw so often on Sunday how the gap between winning and losing is so minute, it is hard not to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness on the overall success of a franchise.

Just as important as BB imbuing his team with mental toughness is the fact that he has sole authority 0ver who makes the roster. His preference for smart players with proven leadership qualities and a team-first orientation is well documented. That's more than half the battle right there.

 

[DarrylS]

Just as important as BB imbuing his team with mental toughness is the fact that he has sole authority 0ver who makes the roster. His preference for smart players with proven leadership qualities and a team-first orientation is well documented. That's more than half the battle right there.

Very well said, and this is the crux of why I get very angry when some idiot posts about how BB does not know what he is doing in the draft or other such nonsense.. all the while no one in the NFL knows that they are doing int he draft... considering the NFL either steals our picks or we always pick in the bottom 5 the outcome is remarkable..

The staff who evaluate talent know what they expect from players preparing for the next game.. that is part of the evaluation process..

 

[Batman]

Let's get real here. EVERY player who makes an NFL roster is both a great athlete, AND a great football player. They all are prepared to the max physically and they all get great coaching, despite what we say all the time. Guys who can coach in the NFL are ALL great coaches, who spend 80 weeks working at their craft during the season, and 40 hour weeks learning from other coaches, after the season. I coached for 20 years and was always astounded by how much I still didn't know and how much new stuff was always appearing. And I was just a HS coach and spent a fraction of the time these "professional's" do.(though according to my wife, it was WAY too much time. ) So even the guys we sometimes make fun of know a TON of football or they would be where they are.

So what I'm saying is, every week, regardless of who we play, the challenge to win is always there. The old adage says, "on any given Sunday", couldn't be more true, and if Sunday night didn't prove that, nothing will. If you don't come prepared mentally as well as physically, the worst team in the league can beat the best one. That is how good EVERYONE is. Even physically the gap between the best and worst might be 5%.

So I got to thinking about the win the other night because I fell into the conventional wisdom of looking at the line up of back ups and rookies the Pats put out there and tried to figure out exactly how they managed to win a close game that wouldn't have even been that close if the Pats didn't lose the TO battle by 2, and the refs had called the game evenly.

Then it struck me when I watched the locker room video thread today. It was something BB said that hit home. It was dry and unemotional, but it perhaps defines the difference in the Pats program and thus explains, to a small degree, the reason for their success. To paraphrase, Bill said, "Great job, etc, but don't forget that a lot of the work we did this week on the practice field, meetings, and film time was just as important to the victory as the work we put in on the field tonight."

We as fans were intimidated by the task that playing the Cardinals at home, without our 2 best players, our 2 OG, our starting RG, and starting DE. Having to start 2 rookies on the OL, and 2 suspect back ups, in ADDITION to a QB starting his first NFL game; made the task virtually impossible unless every break went the Pats way....which it obviously didn't. So what gave us that outcome, because if you watch that video, THOSE guys weren't surprised at all by the outcome. They were happy, but NOT surprised.

1. Bill has created a program where the term "the next man up" isn't just a cliche. Through the coaching process, EVERY man to the team is coached to BELIEVE that the are accountable to do their job, and when asked to do it, they are fully prepared to excel to the best of their ability

2. Bill and his staff has also earned the credibility of his team, so they believe in the game plan. So unlike us, when they went through their Saturday walk through, and Bill said, "Listen guys, if you do A, B, C, and D, like we practiced all week, and execute all three phases of the game plan, you can win this game"; those 53 guys BELIEVED it. Those 53 guys and the staff might have been the only ones who felt that if they just "did their jobs" they SHOULD win.

3. In the end it all comes down to MENTAL TOUGHNESS, something that has been major advantage for the Pats in every BB coached team, with the possible exceptions of the 2002 and 2009 teams. Every week the contest in the NFL is usually close the entire game. The pressure to execute increases with every passing quarter. Given the virtual parity of the physical portion of the game, most games are decided because one team executes better under that severe pressure than the other. They have the "mental toughness" to keep their discipline despite the pressure, the mental toughness to believe in their coaching, and the mental toughness to "ignore the noise".

4. This is why I still love the game so much. It is also why I am in such awe of the job BB does, because from the start be BUILDS that mental toughness, mostly just through simple hard work. Every guy who survives to the 53 knows just how much work it took to get there, so they are all supremely confident in their own abilities, even if we aren't. And then he puts them away into the cocoon of the Patriot Way, where the influences of the outside can't trample on the mental mindset that he trying to build.

Football is such a great game just because "the best team" doesn't always win. Why simply going down the line and comparing, "well we are better here, here, here, so we should win the game, just doesn't work. It's a game where the sum of the team will be greater than the individual parts. AND as we know on bad teams, with no mental toughness, the sum can be worse than the individual parts.

If BB was a coach of another sport, I believe he'd have been equally successful, but I doubt he would have coached so long. He's still doing the job because he KNOWS that football is the game where coaching has the most influence on the outcomes of games. Much more than an other sport. He loves it because he can still be an effective teacher and influencer of men. What he does MATTERS, and it matters on the field on Sundays.

Bill isn't one of those HC's who observes, delegates, and decides (well he does that too). He actually coaches guys, and gets his hands dirty. Anyone who has ever been to a preseason practice knows this about Bill. He is an active participant in the day to day operation of the team's preparation......AND THE TEAM KNOWS IT.

BOTTOM LINE: The equation is simple. In a battle of physical equals, the team with the better mental toughness will usually win. Our biggest advantage over the years is we've had a HC/CEO, who believes, and actively strives for it in his program. The results are not always perfect, as we know; but they've been as good as they can get, in the environment that we have to work with. And lucky for us.

BTW- this became a lot longer that I thought it would be, but really the subject is extensive enough for it to be a book. As we saw so often on Sunday how the gap between winning and losing is so minute, it is hard not to acknowledge the importance of mental toughness on the overall success of a franchise.

Great post as always Ken, it's amazing seeing how may hours coaches put in. I spent some time this summer with JB Wells from Bowdoin college his work ethic was incredible as was his passion for the game. It was great to experience and see first hand. All coaches seem to have the same issues our Wives, partners and family say we spend too much time on fooball. We all think we spend too little time on football.

As a young coach one thing I was taught be a mentor was my job as a coordinator was to put players in a position to be succesful. I think what BB does with his game planing is the ultimate coach at doing that. I believe we have less top tier talent than other teams. Our coach however aims to reduce the drop off incase of injury.

 

[AtomicDawg]

"The power of the mind can nullify skill in an instant". Not sure where I heard that phrase from but this is where I think the root of "mental toughness" lies. The way players use words and how they think about themselves, even though no one else on the outside shares those same feelings and opinions, can dramatically change the way you think. And...if certain words or phrases are heard often enough, or said often enough and with vigor and sincerity and enthusiasm ("We've got a good group of guys"; "We think we have as good a shot as any" How many times do we make fun of these cliches?) can alleviate the "fear" of going into a hostile environment and radiate confidence in a player so that it lays a foundation for ultimate success.

Ken, this post made me do a Volin and search a BB quote from one of his gatherings. It says it all to me, frankly.

“So the whole idea of the ‘do your job’ feeling is to make sure you do your job and you’re prepared, and you’re confident in what you’re doing going into the game – we give them written tests or tests on the screen so their teammates can see that they’re prepared, they’re ready for the game, they’re ready for these situations that we’ve covered -- and the next person can go out there and do their job without really a lot of concern about what’s going to happen around them. They’re confident of their teammate and the guy beside them. I think that extends to the entire organization as the head coach, that I want to go out there and try to be focused on the job that I have to do. I can’t make medical decisions. I can’t block. I can’t kick. I can’t throw. That’s not my job. Other people we have doing their jobs, I don’t think we want them doing mine. So it can all work together as long as we understand our role.”

Read the rest here:
Belichick's address: Mental toughness

EDIT: And I third the blog idea, I'd be all for that. Perhaps Chatham could find room on his FootballByFootball site?

 

[n6249c]

"The power of the mind can nullify skill in an instant". Not sure where I heard that phrase from but this is where I think the root of "mental toughness" lies. The way players use words and how they think about themselves, even though no one else on the outside shares those same feelings and opinions, can dramatically change the way you think. And...if certain words or phrases are heard often enough, or said often enough and with vigor and sincerity and enthusiasm ("We've got a good group of guys"; "We think we have as good a shot as any" How many times do we make fun of these cliches?) can alleviate the "fear" of going into a hostile environment and radiate confidence in a player so that it lays a foundation for ultimate success.

Ken, this post made me do a Volin and search a BB quote from one of his gatherings. It says it all to me, frankly.



Read the rest here:
Belichick's address: Mental toughness

EDIT: And I third the blog idea, I'd be all for that. Perhaps Chatham could find room on his FootballByFootball site?

Great post. That talk by Belichick is wonderful, would be great material for PFK's book (not blog, this stuff deserves a whole book!). Thanks!