Very few would argue against Bill Belichick being one of the greatest coaches of all time. He is a Six-time Super Bowl champ, a nine-time AFC champ, and a three-time NFL Coach of the Year. He is a leader of men, a builder of franchises, a tactical genius, and a master of clock management. But even a man of his calibre found coaching Tom Brady hard.
Bill Belichick Recalls The Moment He Found His Preparations Lagging Behind Tom Brady
Belichick, who now coaches the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, said it wasn’t hard because the GOAT wasn’t ready to listen to him or follow his calls. But because he would, at times, be better prepared than Belichick, forcing the latter to work harder. It was this competitiveness that shaped the dynasty in New England.
During a recent appearance on a Bloomberg Originals podcast, Belichick discussed Brady’s journey in New England. The former Patriots coach revealed he was confident in his abilities and preparations at the start, and used to give the quarterback an idea of how the defensive coordinators were thinking about stopping him.
“I always felt like I was really well prepared when I went in and talked to Tom, and I tried to teach him from a coaching standpoint what he needed to know, which was what the defensive coordinator was thinking on the other side of the field,” Belichick said.
However, while discussing these things, one day, Brady turned out to have watched more film about the team they were facing than Belichick.
“We got into a situation where I went in there and I said, you know, Tom, here’s what they’re playing. And I said it was a coverage that they could have made an adjustment to,” Belichick recalled. “I said, ‘I’ve never seen him make that cover adjustment. I don’t think they have that in their system. And Tom kind of let me down easy. He said, ‘Well, I don’t know. I saw something last year against Green Bay. I dunno if that’s what they were doing or not. Well, that’s exactly what they were doing. He just didn’t embarrass me.
“I went back and watched him like, okay, he was better prepared for that meeting than I was. I’m not gonna let that happen again. And so now I’m not only going through the games this year. I’m going back through the games last year too. He forced me to be better prepared and be a better coach because he was so well prepared.”
As Belichick noted, Brady didn’t embarrass him. He could have, but for the man he was, he didn’t, and Belichick gave him his flowers for that.
“Tom did it with grace. He could have just said, ‘Hey, coach, why don’t you go look at this game?’ But, but he didn’t. But that’s kind of the way he was. And because he was so well prepared, he forced me to be too, and when I say he was hard to coach, I mean that truly as a compliment.”
Even though some differences crept in between them in the final years of their partnership, which ended after the 2018 season, Brady never publicly complained or criticized Belichick’s approach despite being singled out in practice at times.
Their partnership in New England resulted in nine Super Bowl appearances and six wins between 2001 and 2019, and it’s why they are widely considered the greatest quarterback-coach duo in the history of the NFL.
