Bill Belichick does not come off as a friendly person.
The New England Patriots head coach has built a reputation of being rather uncongenial due to his listless press conferences and emotionless looks on the sideline.
Another coach who shared similar qualities to Belichick was former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. However, Pro Football Hall of Famer Michael Strahan said on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd” on Thursday that his former coach’s image might have even been worse than Belichick’s.
“I would imagine (Coughlin) was probably worse than anyone could think Belichick would be,” Strahan told Cowherd. “Because Belichick’s players love him, and it’s almost like a public persona that he gives off.”
Strahan went on to say that it took some give-and-take for Giants players to gain a liking for Coughlin.
“But Coughlin, we hated him,” he said. “And it was real. It was no public persona. We hated the man. But now he learned that you can be tough, everybody’s going to have the same goal — to win — but you have to let (people) know you’re human. You have to know I care about you. And once he learned to let us know he cared about us, we loved him.”
Ironically enough, the height of Strahan and Coughlin’s relationship came at Belichick’s expense. As fans remember, the Giants spoiled the Patriots’ perfect season a decade ago with a win in Super Bowl XLII.
Thumbnail photo via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
