FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick finally gave away the secret to the New England Patriots’ prolonged success. Are you ready for it? It’s a doozy: tackling.
Belichick said Wednesday during his morning news conference that he values tackling even over coverage skills in a defensive back.
“For me, I learned a long time ago, my dad told me this and Coach (Bill) Parcells told me this, that the most important thing on defense is getting 11 guys out there who can tackle,” Belichick said. “Defensively, your job is to get the guy with the ball on the ground. In the end, that’s your job, so all the other stuff is great, but if you can’t do that, then what do you really have?
“That’s not to minimize coverage skill. There’s a place for that, don’t get me wrong, but in the end, somebody has to get them down on the ground. I think that’s a critical component for me, for us, for any player on the defensive side of the ball, regardless of what position they play, but particularly in the secondary, where you can be higher on coverage skills, but if you’re willing to give up poor tackling for good coverage skills, eventually there’s going to be a problem there. Might be able to live with it, but eventually it’s going to be a problem.
“I put a high priority on it, we put a high priority on it in the organization in our defense. We practice it every single day. I don’t think there’s been a day that we haven’t worked on tackling this year or any other year. It’s the most fundamental, important thing for a defensive player to do well. That and defeat the blocks. Everybody is going to get blocked at some point, so defeating blocks and tackling, that’s the two most critical fundamentals that any defensive player needs. There’s not really much that goes above tackling for me.”
Belichick was asked to name the best tackler he’s ever coached, and it was no surprise who he mentioned.
“They come in different shapes and sizes, but not many guys got away from (Lawrence) Taylor,” Belichick said.
Belichick also heaped praise on two current Patriots safeties for their ability to bring down ball carriers.
“We’ve always had great tacklers,” Belichick said. “Terry Kinard was a great tackler, Devin McCourty is an outstanding tackler, (Patrick) Chung is one of the best tacklers that I’ve had at safety. Look, everybody is going to miss, just like every receiver is going to drop a pass, just like every quarterback is going to throw an interception, just like every running back at some point is going to drop the ball, but guys that don’t miss many tackles, you want them on your team, and it shows up in the kicking game, too.”
McCourty is the complete package in the defensive backfield, which probably is why Belichick was willing to hand him a five-year, $47.5 million contract over the offseason.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports Images
