New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick created quite the buzz during NFL Combine week. However, it wasn’t because of anything that took place in Indianapolis.
Belichick ventured to Middle Tennessee State University earlier this week to work out defensive end prospect Tyshun Render. And photos of the 67-year-old coach caught the attention of many.
Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill explained how it all went down.
“We didn’t make a big deal out of it, didn’t promote it, didn’t tell other players he was coming,” Stockstill said, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I didn’t want it to turn into a circus, everyone coming out to see Coach Belichick. So it was kind of under the radar a little bit. He was very gracious, talking to us, and with how he treated Tyshun, how he asked him questions, how he communicated with him.”
Stockstill told Reiss that Belichick spent more than three hours at the university as he took Render through both a workout and film session. The coach of the Blue Raiders noted how “very meticulous” and “very detail-oriented” Belichick was during the visit. (This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those in New England.)
“When you think about, here’s arguably the best football coach ever in the NFL, and he’s on our campus, working out one of our players in the cold, pouring-down rain,” Stockstill said. “It was a great experience just being able to shake his hand, talk to him a little bit, and watch how he evaluates players, and what he puts them through from a drill standpoint, and how he asked him questions watching film. It was a good learning experience for all of us.”
Render is an under-the-radar prospect who Belichick visited due to him not being invited to the NFL Combine.
