Before the New England Patriots faced the Detroit Lions in a preseason game this summer, Bill Belichick met up with one of the men who gave him his start in coaching.
Belichick reunited with Rick Forzano, who was head coach of the Detroit Lions from 1974 to 1976. After Belichick spent 1975 as a special assistant with the Baltimore Colts, earning $25 a week, Forzano hired him as a 24-year-old assistant special teams coach in 1976 for $10,000 a year. Belichick also worked with tight ends.
Forzano first met “Billy” in 1959 when he was hired as an assistant coach at Navy. Belichick’s father, Steve, a coach and scout at the Naval Academy, allowed Forzano to live with them in 1959, when Belichick was 7 years old.
Watch Belichick and Forzano relive old memories in the fantastic NFL Films special below. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady also makes a cameo.
