Mike Reiss Jul 30, 2023, 11:21pm Read: 3 min.
After 24 years as the head coach of the Patriots, why do you still do it? Your players respond
Bill Belichick is leading his 24th training camp as the head coach of the New England Patriotswhich brings us to the next question: why do you keep doing it?
Two players who have been with him the longest — special teams captain, Matthew Slater (since 2008), and offensive lineman James Ferentz (since 2017)– shared their perspectives.
“I really marvel at the fact that he’s able to maintain competitive stamina the way he has,” he admitted. Slater. “His desire to win. His desire to build a winner. His desire to educate players in terms of how he plays this game, how to be a professional, how to respect the game — that fire is still burning very bright.”
Bill Belichick has focused more on the teaching part of the game in recent years, according to Matthew Slater.AP Photo
At 71 years of age, Belichick is only behind Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks (who turns 72 in September) as the oldest head coach in the NFL. He is the coach with the longest time in charge of the same team.
“It will be my seventh camp with the coach Belichick and to say that there is a difference between the first and this one, not really,” he shared Ferentz. “The guy is still energetic, an unparalleled football IQ. Every day is business, with purpose, and really no wasted time.”
Ferentz noticed how the game has evolved and also the players, therefore the same has happened with Belichick. He pointed to sports science as an example.
“As different kinds of recoveries have come into vogue, he’s done a really good job of bringing in people who know those answers to help us move forward,” he described.
At the same time, Slater and a Belichick sticking to an old-school strategy that he believes is still critical.
“What I’ve seen in the latter part of my career is that he loves to teach the game,” he said. Slater. “You can be hyper-focused on analytics and different things, but at the end of the day, good coaches are capable of teaching and he still loves that, and has done it more in recent years than ever.
“It’s awesome. I think we all want to go out there and get to his level. Get to where he is, and hopefully that means good things for our team.”
A Ferentzwhose father, Kirk Ferentzenters his 25th season as the head coach of Iowa and is 67 years old, he was asked if he saw any parallels between his father and Belichick.
“Obviously, he spent a little more time with my father, but what he always says is that it’s the constant challenge. It’s like a game of chess, it’s simple when the rules are explained, but no two games are the same even though the rules are always be the same.
“Every season is different. Players change, but you’re watching the youngsters grow and I know how much he enjoys that part of the process. I can only imagine that the coach Belichick he sees it in a similar way, and I think he probably takes a lot of pride in playing an important role in his growth and development.”
2023-07-31 03:33:25
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