Bill Belichick can be pretty tight-lipped around the media.
When it comes to his dad, he can’t stop talking.
The New England Patriots coach was asked about his late father’s influence during a news conference Tuesday at the team hotel.
The answer lasted 4 minutes, 37 seconds.
“A long answer to a short question,” Belichick said, managing a slight smile. “I’m famous for that.”
Steve Belichick was a long-time assistant coach at the Naval Academy, where he was responsible for scouting the Midshipmen’s next opponent. He died in 2005, but his influence carries on to this day.
“To go to a game and watch him scout the game was, I mean, it was an unforgettable experience,” Belichick said. “There would be four or five other scouts in the press box scouting the game besides him. He would be there with his book, scouting it, and he would write down the substitutions, the play and would be ready to go for the next play.
“When it was all over, those plays _ again, this is back in the days when it took two days for film to come in _ those plays were the game. You had to wait two days before you could actually see the play on film. Meanwhile, the other guys would be scouting and they’d be like, ‘What happened on that play? Who caught that?’ He was just so good at it.”
Riding home from games, the father would share all that knowledge with his son.
“He saw every play, the blocking scheme, the defense, the pattern they ran, the coverage they were in, who blitzed. He had great vision,” Belichick recalled. “It was really impressive. But, again, I realized that it came not from just watching it, but preparing for it, knowing who the players were, knowing what the plays were going into the game, that type of thing.”
Clearly, young Bill learned his lessons well.
Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
