FOXBORO, Mass. — Bill Belichick has been a successful coach in the NFL for over two decades.
Sunday’s Week 5 win over the Detroit Lions not only marked Belichick’s 400th with the New England Patriots, it also marked his 323rd win, which puts him one behind George Halas to tie for second place for all-time wins.
There are a number of things that make Belichick who he is. But what do the players think makes him so great?
“Other than like, he’s a really good football coach?,” Devin McCourty, who has spent 13 seasons under Belichick, said Wednesday. “I think consistency, being able to demand a certain standard from your team year in, year out. But I would say every single day, whether it’s (when) we first come back in April, and the offseason has set a standard OTA prior to his mini camp training, because there’s just, from my 13-year experience here, there’s always a level of consistency from the guy that stands behind the podium day in and day out every day. I think that creates a football team that, we used to say, kind of running scared, meaning that you’re gonna stay prepared, you got to always be on top of everything because you want to be prepared, you want to be the best.
“And I think Bill creates that here, but just always been that same guy. And I think it forces every other player in the building to get to that standard, or if not you feel left behind or you’re not here. And I think over the years, you’ve seen different guys come in this place. Different people have sat in all the rooms and the chairs in there.
“And for a long period of time, you’ve seen the same result. And I think that only comes from obviously not just him, but that person at the top having a lot of consistency that goes to the staff that goes to the players, and then shows up on Sundays.”
David Andrews pointed to how detail-oriented and engaged Belichick was through any aspect.
“The attention to detail, the standard. I think he’s done a great job of that being from the top down. It trickles throughout the coaches and then the players. I think there’s something to be said that nothing can ever be good enough. It can always be better and the minute you start kind of letting that go to waste, complacency, and things like that. … The attention to detail, super honest, he’s honest with players. Players wanna be coached, I believe that. I wanna he helped and told, ‘hey, this is how you should do this.’ … Being told, being coached. I’ve always wanted to be coached hard that’s how I grew up. My dad was one of my first football coaches and he was hard on me. I just think you wanna be held accountable. If it’s not OK I need to know that it’s not OK and it’s not good enough. That question could go on forever I feel like, but I think that kind of speaks for itself.”
Belichick will look to keep the wins — and great coaching coming — in Week 6 when the Patriots take on the Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon. Kick off from FirstEnergy Stadium is set for 1 p.m. ET.
