Posted by Bill Belichick is one of the most celebrated current NFL coaches having won three Superbowl in the last 10 years. Aside from winning quite a bit, he also has a very good reputation for his tactical abilities and his ability to build teams through drafting and free agent signings. I’ve read a few things about him including a very good book by David Halberstam entitled “The Education of a Coach“. It came as a delightful surprise to learn that NFL Films had spent an entire season following him around with cameras (actually more like planting permanent cameras ‘Big Brother’ style around his workplace) and made a documentary out of it. I managed to track it down on the internet and watched it over the last week. I can’t say that I was struck by any eureka moments where the genius of Belichick was suddenly revealed, but it was interesting to see how he handled himself in different situations. For example, there was a certain lightness of touch in his interactions with players that surprised me a little. There was some great footage of him eating cup noodles while on a press conference call. But the thing that struck me the most was how honest he was in certain situations with his team leaders, particularly with quarterback Tom Brady. From about the 1:02:00 minute mark, the following youtube clip shows him talking to Brady after a particularly heartbreaking loss. Brady seems almost embarrassed by Belichick’s brutal honesty.
The total of 82 practical Coaching Tips can be found here and here.
Read about the great new Vyacheslav Platonov coaching book here.
At Home On The Court 
Thanks for the hint. I saw the whole show. I like these kind of looks into coaches lives. Concerning the Brady scene I think he didn’t recognize his coach 🙂
I liked the conversation with Brady when Belichick took his QBs suggestion into the playbook for the next game. He seemed to be ready to listen to his player. What also surprised me was his blunt conclusion about bad coaching in a lost game. And it looked like he included himself, not blaming his assistant coaches only.
On the other hand I was amazed about the meeting room for the team meetings. It looked like one of my old class rooms. And Belichick standing there like a professor. I am sure there are better and more communicative ways to hold team meetings…
LikeLike
It is interesting about the meeting rooms. They use the same kind of set up for Australian Football. I guess it is the most practical way of talking to really large groups. Australian Football League and NFL both have over 40 players on the roster and at least five extra coaches.
LikeLike
NFL has over 50 players and more then 10 assistant coaches. But what about a circle or two/three concentric circles with monitors in four directions?
LikeLike
I can’t tell you the answer to that.
LikeLike