Bill Belichick. His secret sauce

[Coach]

Okay, we know he works hard, he's smart, and his players always seem prepared.

But how does he really take away an opponent's weapon on defense in pass coverage?

I happened to be in a conversation with a Miami Dolphin X player who lives in my development, who knew some defensive back in New England. This is how he prepares his team.

1 ) His game plan varies week to week based on the opponents tendencies, what they do well, who does it well, and where the opponent hits their money plays. No one obsesses about or breaks down film better. So when the coin is flipped to start a game his men are prepared to stop what you do best.

2 ) When faced with the task of covering a top receiver, New England often sends their best cover man to blanket the opposing offense second best receiver, then has their #2 and #3 cover your top dog.

3 ) Belichick does not allow his players to be a distraction. If he is, color him gone. Most shaky character types can stay in line if they are winning.

4 ) He does not build his team around speed, he drafts for character reliability and quickness.


>>> Point #2 is pretty interesting, I think.

 

[AggieSteel]

1 ) His game plan varies week to week based on the opponents tendencies, what they do well, who does it well, and where the opponent hits their money plays.

This is the one that stands out to me, although I don't believe this point is necessarily "new" to anyone familiar with Belichick.

But I'm curious what the rest of the board thinks in regards to how this philosophy compares and contrasts with our coaching staff.

Do our coaches adjust the game plan week to week to the opponent? Do MT/TH/KB just stubbornly try to pound the opponents whatever they want to do regardless of the opponents' tendencies?

Because often times it certainly feels like the latter to me. And if it is, in fact, the latter - then doesn't that strike anyone else as coaching laziness? I know MT has often said things like "we know (opponent X) likes to (blah blah) so we went in trying to (blah blah)" but I often wonder how nuanced this film study truly is. I mean, for example - in the regular season, we basically abandoned the run against Miami who can't stop the run, and pounded Bell into the line of scrimmage against Baltimore, who goes in to every game hoping you try to beat them on the ground. And of course the debacle in New England which we've all covered ad nauseum that we were playing right into their hands and creating the exact conditions Br*dy and Belichick hope for going into a game. It just feels like we go into games doing whatever the **** we want with little or no correlation to what common sense and film study should tell you will work against the opponent.

So I guess my question is - is it laziness or stupidity? Are our coaches not willing to put in the time and effort on film study? Or do they do the film study and come out with the exact opposite conclusions they should half the time? Or is it another option - do they do the study, make the right conclusions about the opponent, but then intentionally do the opposite of what they should thinking it will catch them off guard?

I mean - wtf?

 

[Steeler Pride]

Belichick has never give one rats *** about "Character reliability" outside of the fact that he takes people that are reliably a character. Look at character castoffs that he has taken in over the last 10 years it is plain to see that character means very little to him.

 

[Steeler Pride]

This is the one that stands out to me, although I don't believe this point is necessarily "new" to anyone familiar with Belichick.

But I'm curious what the rest of the board thinks in regards to how this philosophy compares and contrasts with our coaching staff.

Do our coaches adjust the game plan week to week to the opponent? Do MT/TH/KB just stubbornly try to pound the opponents whatever they want to do regardless of the opponents' tendencies?

Because often times it certainly feels like the latter to me. And if it is, in fact, the latter - then doesn't that strike anyone else as coaching laziness? I know MT has often said things like "we know (opponent X) likes to (blah blah) so we went in trying to (blah blah)" but I often wonder how nuanced this film study truly is. I mean, for example - in the regular season, we basically abandoned the run against Miami who can't stop the run, and pounded Bell into the line of scrimmage against Baltimore, who goes in to every game hoping you try to beat them on the ground. And of course the debacle in New England which we've all covered ad nauseum that we were playing right into their hands and creating the exact conditions Br*dy and Belichick hope for going into a game. It just feels like we go into games doing whatever the **** we want with little or no correlation to what common sense and film study should tell you will work against the opponent.

So I guess my question is - is it laziness or stupidity? Are our coaches not willing to put in the time and effort on film study? Or do they do the film study and come out with the exact opposite conclusions they should half the time? Or is it another option - do they do the study, make the right conclusions about the opponent, but then intentionally do the opposite of what they should thinking it will catch them off guard?

I mean - wtf?

#1 should be common sense to ANYBODY in football at any level. It is not a new or novel concept nor is it why the Pats are a tough team to beat. The Pats are a tough team to beat because they focus so much on the small details and perfection in the fundamentals. That attention to detail, when you stress it everyday in all aspects of your game and practice makes for a very formidable opponent.

 

[Coach]

#1 should be common sense to ANYBODY in football at any level. It is not a new or novel concept nor is it why the Pats are a tough team to beat. The Pats are a tough team to beat because they pay attention to detail when you stress it every day in all aspects of your game and practice makes for a very formidable opponent.

Yeah. He breaks it down for his guys and the staff communicates the message. BB has his hands in everything. He does not delegate as much to the DC as other coaches do.

Why can't we focus on the small details and fundamentals?

 

[Coach]

So I guess my question is - is it laziness or stupidity? Are our coaches not willing to put in the time and effort on film study? Or do they do the film study and come out with the exact opposite conclusions they should half the time? Or is it another option - do they do the study, make the right conclusions about the opponent, but then intentionally do the opposite of what they should thinking it will catch them off guard?

I mean - wtf?

Aggie, Great question! It could be inflexibility to a scheme. We want to run a good zone pass defense, but the zone is not always the best defense to deploy. In that sense we are rigid.

With Belichick, he has not set " style " and he changes the practices to what he thinks works best.

I'm sure the coaches do a ton of film studying, but you can't keep throwing out Rock in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors all the time, especially when the other team knows that what you want to do most of the time and is good at the paper!

Laziness on the player's side? I'd use the word lack of professionalism.

Tomlin for whatever reason has issues with player focus, and quality control from within. He can say it's not a distraction 10 times, he's not being truthful. It is.

As I said before If I'm coach I pull my prima donnas in my office privately away from normal team hours and point blank tell them, if you keep this distraction up, you're not getting the ball as much as you'd like in blowout games, and you run the risk of not being the initial starter introduced for games....a scary thought to players focuses on " stats " and photo opportunities. I do not want to do this, and greatly value you as a player. Are we clear crysal clear? ( Man hug )

If they keep it up, I seek to trade them in private looking for value.

 

[Coryea]

#2 is only correct when you have legit #2 wr, because Butler followed Brown all over the field.

 

[ExUSAF]

#3 is worth its weight in gold. Brown's endless antics - end zone dances that draw a penalty, Facebooking in the locker room after a game - are a distraction and I wonder how long Belichick would have put up with it. Sometimes you just know they won't so you don't do it. Same thing with Bell with his suspension and now this injury brouhaha. I don't know what Jamie Collins did to deserve it but trading a good player to the Browns had to get the attention of the rest of the team.

 

[Buster]

All good points, but he doesn't have a vast collection of cliches like CMT. That's what it's all about...OBVIOUSLY.

 

[madinsomniac]

Did he mention if the Pats still send guys in to steal the signal sheets from the opponants locker room... that espn article outlining their many known and confirmed cheats isnt even 2 years old now and people already forgot and act like Bb is a legit coaching mastermind...

 

[Frosty]

So all of this came to him while with NE? Where was it the five years he was in Cleveland when he had one winning record?

 

[Coryea]

So all of this came to him while with NE? Where was it the five years he was in Cleveland when he had one winning record?

The technology wasn't the same then, if you know what I mean

 

[ark steel]

Did he mention if the Pats still send guys in to steal the signal sheets from the opponants locker room... that espn article outlining their many known and confirmed cheats isnt even 2 years old now and people already forgot and act like Bb is a legit coaching mastermind...

I thought I was the only one that wasn't going to jump on the knob-slobbin train.

Thanks.

 

[Steeler Pride]

I thought I was the only one that wasn't going to jump on the knob-slobbin train.

Thanks.

I think it is an easy cop out to try and blame everything on cheating. You still have to be able to bring players in that can execute, beat the man across from them, and complete the game plan. We were largely beaten yesterday by a WR that was a lacrosse player in college. The Patriots have been very successful and plugging in new people into their system and winning games. Blaming cheating for 7 SB appearances or 6 consecutive AFCC games is much like bitching about officiating. Just makes our fan base look like a bunch of sore losers.

 

[BLITZ]

Oh and he cheats

 

[ark steel]

I think it is an easy cop out to try and blame everything on cheating. You still have to be able to bring players in that can execute, beat the man across from them, and complete the game plan. We were largely beaten yesterday by a WR that was a lacrosse player in college. The Patriots have been very successful and plugging in new people into their system and winning games. Blaming cheating for 7 SB appearances or 6 consecutive AFCC games is much like bitching about officiating. Just makes our fan base look like a bunch of sore losers.

I contend that if you KNOW where the defenders are going to be, it doesn't take much of a receiver to go to that spot. Just has to be someone fast enough to get there. It doesn't even have to be every play, nor does it have to work every time.

Our D had some issues in the game that they hadn't had in previous games, but this knob-slobbin is redonkulous.

 

[Steeler Pride]

I contend that if you KNOW where the defenders are going to be, it doesn't take much of a receiver to go to that spot. Just has to be someone fast enough to get there. It doesn't even have to be every play, nor does it have to work every time.

Our D had some issues in the game that they hadn't had in previous games, but this knob-slobbin is redonkulous.

If you play man coverage you know where the DB is going to be and who he is going to cover, your receiver still has to beat his man and get separation, the QB has to throw a good pass, and the WR has to catch the pass. If as a defense you are playing cover-2 and your slot receiver runs a post and your WR runs a sluggo the safety still has to make a choice as to where he is going to help, the QB has to make the read...etc

 

[MT~Forged]

Belichick has never give one rats *** about "Character reliability" outside of the fact that he takes people that are reliably a character. Look at character castoffs that he has taken in over the last 10 years it is plain to see that character means very little to him.

I believe the point is whether the player can be counted on while on the field, as opposed to of the field antics.

 

[MT~Forged]

#1 should be common sense to ANYBODY in football at any level. It is not a new or novel concept nor is it why the Pats are a tough team to beat. The Pats are a tough team to beat because they focus so much on the small details and perfection in the fundamentals. That attention to detail, when you stress it everyday in all aspects of your game and practice makes for a very formidable opponent.

The cheating helps too.

So all of this came to him while with NE? Where was it the five years he was in Cleveland when he had one winning record?

That may well have been a warm up that he was trying to keep quiet. I would bet Kraft was all ears about his plan in the interview. It has been obvious that it has been supported.

The technology wasn't the same then, if you know what I mean

Tech is much better than before.

 

[SteelerSask2]

He has a great QB that is very accurate. They are on the same page. They can run or pass. They do what you can't stop well and take away what you do best on offense. Winning formula.

 

[ark steel]

If you play man coverage you know where the DB is going to be and who he is going to cover, your receiver still has to beat his man and get separation, the QB has to throw a good pass, and the WR has to catch the pass. If as a defense you are playing cover-2 and your slot receiver runs a post and your WR runs a sluggo the safety still has to make a choice as to where he is going to help, the QB has to make the read...etc

or he can throw/change the play accordingly. When you know the D, it opens a very wide avenue. Sure, they still have to execute, but cheating sure helps increase the odds of a positive play. If it didn't, they wouldn't have been caught, twice, doing it.

 

[kev4heels]

4 ) He does not build his team around speed, he drafts for character reliability and quickness.

Seriously? Dude could care less about character. Aaron Hernandez ring a bell?
How about bringing in guys like Moss, Floyd, Talib, etc??

 

[antdrewjosh]

Dupree Takes Offense To Dulac’s Twitter Comments


BY DAVE BRYAN JANUARY 25, 2017 AT 02:22 PM



The Pittsburgh Steelers defense failed miserably at attempting to slow down the New England Patriots passing game during Sunday’s AFC Championship game beat-down in Foxborough and especially when quarterback Tom Brady decided to go fast.

“The first drive hit us by surprise,” Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree said Monday, according to Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “They came out firing and they caught us off guard. We were checking and they were checking at the same time. Hats off to that team. They had a great preparation.”

Dupree would later add that while the Steelers defenses had prepared for the Patriots offense to run some no-huddle against them, they were ultimately surprised at how often they used it.

“We didn’t really anticipate it like that,” Dupree said. “It was more in their approach to the no huddle, the checks they made right away. It was a great job by Tom Brady.”

On Wednesday, Gerry Dulac, also of the PPG, added a little fuel on top of Dupree’s Monday comments on Twitter.




“Bud Dupree said Steelers were “surprised” about frequency of NE’s no-huddle offense. He shouldn’t have been. Players were prepped all week,” Dulac tweeted.

Dulac then added: “Just because Steelers prepped for no-huddle pace doesn’t mean they could stop it. But don’t say you’re surprised by it.”

Dupree took offense to Dulac’s tweets and fired back at him on the social media platform.

“you see me everyday at the facility ask questions if you think it’s a problem don’t tweet about it!” Dupree tweeted.

Well, this certainly sets up a few awkward moments between Dulac and Dupree in the Steelers locker room moving forward. By now, Dupree should probably know not to get himself worked-up over what is said and written about him as it’s part of him being a professional athlete.

Regardless, the Steelers defense couldn’t stop the Patriots offense no matter what kind of tempo they used.

 

[slashsteel]

Reality it is a combination of everything mentioned.

But if you think cheating isn't a part of it, I have some swamp land to sell yinz.............

 

[ianv2012]

Really? The I know a guy who knew a guy info?