Belichick and Brady by Michael Holley

Author:Michael Holley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Sports & Recreation / Football
Publisher: Hachette Books
Published: 2016-10-03T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWELVE

FRANCHISE SHIFTS

There is usually a pencil tucked behind one of Bill Belichick’s ears, his constant reminder to be ready when an idea flutters and then suddenly drops. An insight about his franchise is always nearby. There is a coaching point for himself, an area of emphasis for an assistant, or an illustration for the players. The pencil is both symbolic and essential for what lies ahead in 2009. It’s time to restructure, rethink, and ultimately rewrite the franchise. Fortunately for him, he’s been a part of this process a couple of times already.

Nearly twenty years earlier, in Cleveland, he had insisted on vivid language throughout the organization. He was serious about it. Details mattered. Words mattered. He wanted everyone to be precise in their descriptions of who a player was and what he could do, so precise that you could practically feel, touch, and see that player coming to life off the page.

He and Mike Lombardi, his top personnel man at the time, had spent months on the writing of the new scouting manual. They were building something from scratch, so they were wise enough to be patient with the unknown. It was going to take a while to turn some core ideas into an articulated football world. They knew that intelligence, power, and versatility had to be part of their players’ profile, but that still wasn’t specific enough. By the time they started to figure it out, they got fired.

In 2000, in New England, Belichick’s writing partners were Scott Pioli, Ernie Adams, and Bucko Kilroy. They wrote with clarity and power, accurately describing some of their championship players before they were even in the building. They wrote of their ideal defensive lineman: “He must be able to play with fast, strong hands. Two-gapping is not a passive catch and read technique. It involves knocking the offensive line back and establishing a new line of scrimmage. If the defensive tackle gets doubled, he can’t get moved back. He must be able to hold his ground and work laterally. He must be able to disengage and make plays.”

One year later, they got that guy, Richard Seymour. He went beyond the description, actually. He was faster, stronger, bigger, and smarter than the prototype. He was far and away the number one player on their draft board, even though many fans had swooned instead for Michigan receiver David Terrell. But when Terrell’s career was ending four years later, Seymour was dominating through his third consecutive first team All-Pro season.

For the most important position in football, Belichick and his writing team coveted the same general concepts that other franchises did. Of course they wanted a quarterback who was a leader, good decision-maker, and accurate passer. But even those traits can be subjective to scouts who are trying to give the boss what he wants. So the specific instruction was that the quarterback must “throw accurate passes that can be caught by our team. Pretty spirals don’t count if they land out of bounds, or even worse, if the defense can put their hands on the ball.

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