New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick, was featured on a 2009 NFL Channel program A Football Life: Bill Belichick. The program was produced in 2009 at a time when the Patriots’ Coach Belichick along with his quarterback Tom Brady had won five Super Bowl Championships.
There are many lessons that can be learned from Coach Belichick. One lesson was his ability to focus on assessing and correcting the small aspects of the game on the football field. During one program segment, Coach Belichick was seen closely managing the aspects of the game plan needing adjustment.
‘Every battle is won before it is fought.” Sun Tzu
Another lesson learned was his very detailed pregame planning. In a pregame speech, Belichick stated to the Patriots football players that…”they know what to do, and they should go out and execute their respective position responsibilities aggressively”.
Also, he commented that…”they’ve worked hard and prepared thoroughly; they should celebrate when they or a teammate make a play”. He also stressed that they must play with energy and passion on the field. He indicated that the prior season, when they failed to achieve the team goals, the players were not playing with passion nor celebrating when a teammate made a play.
In the NFL, winning coaches, such as Belichick, must stay several steps ahead of their competitors or allow their competitors to catch and even surpass them. In pregame planning meeting with his coaching staff, he gamed planned what he expected the opposing team would do against the Patriots and what aspect of the opponents game or player they would take away.
It was obvious that Coach Belichick believed in focusing solely on the details of the game during the game”s sixty minutes and delay trash talking to after the game was over. During one game, he is seen commenting to a trash talking opposing team player…”let’s talk after the game and do you see the scoreboard”. In postgame analysis, win or lose, he was brutally honest with the team on what they did well and what they did poorly during the game. Especially, if he observed the team losing focus or failing to execute on the football field of play.
During an expected inclement weather football game, Coach Belichick repeatedly reminded his team that they were not playing the wind and wintry weather, but were playing a NFL professional football team. He wanted the Patriots to focus on the opponents and ignore the blowing snow and sleet.
‘Where you end is the only thing that matters in football and golf.’ Bill Belichcik
Coach emphasized that he was not afraid to go for it. Once, on a fourth and one on the Patriots own twenty-five yard line, he successfully went for the first down deep in Patriot’s own territory. A week later, it was fourth and two on the Patriots own twenty-eight yard line, he was unsuccessful going for a first down. Lessons learned from the experience, regardless of the comments from a plethora of second-guessers, “…do not be afraid to go for it and ignore the noise afterwards, if unsuccessful”.
Annapolis, MD, and the U.S. Naval Academy were Bill Belichick’s boyhood hometown and coaching apprenticeship. Bill’s father, Steve Belichick, was a scout for the U.S. Naval Academy’s football team. As a result, Bill spent countless hours shadowing his father during practices and games as his father coached the Navy football team. When not at Naval Academy football practices and games, Bill played on the local Annapolis High School football team.
Coach Belichick consistently stressed “…getting the team to play the way they need to play” to win. Especially on the road, it was important for the team to play with mental toughness. Competition is about getting up after each time an individual is knocked down. Also, he emphasized to his coaches and players that winning is all that matters in the NFL and in sports in general.
One additional lessons learned is to ensure the players know individually and collectively, as a team, what is expected of them. He also ensured that they understood what was at stake and that they execute the game plan accordingly.
He emphasized continuously that you do not dance around and celebrate an expected victory while time remained on the clock, regardless of the of the lead on the scoreboard. He further emphasized how one stupid mistake, one stupid play or one stupid penalty can end the season for the Patriots, especially in the post season.
When injuries occurred, he was quick to quip that a team…”played with the players on hand…with the hand you’re dealt”. And, once a game was concluded, don’t look back…the focus must be on preparing for the next game and opponent. This aligned with the U.S. Navy Seal’s motto…”the only easy day was yesterday”.
“When you leave here (motto located in Patriots locker room):
- Don’t believe or feel the hype
- Manage expectations
- Ignore the noise
- Speak for yourself”
In short, New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick has become the NFL’s most successful modern day football coach.
