What makes the New England Patriots’ Bill Belichick one of the best head coaches – if not THE best head coach — in pro football history?
A lot of things, actually, one of which is his incredible attention to detail. He takes everything – and we do mean everything – into consideration when it comes to trying to make his team better.
We saw a little bit of that during his five years (1991-95) in Cleveland. Back then, though, we thought he was just a little eccentric, or a little weird, or a little something or another that was off the beaten path. We didn’t realize the genius then behind all of these decisions. We were too busy examining his personality – or lack thereof – in press conferences.
The first time I really noticed it was Aug. 13, 1993 – a Friday – when the Browns arrived in Toronto for their second preseason game of the year against the Patriots at what was then known as SkyDome (now Rogers Centre). It was the first head-coaching matchup of two Bills who have had an on-again, off-again relationship in Belichick and his former boss with the New York Giants, Bill Parcells, then in his first season in New England. That was the big story, for the two men had combined their coaching acumen to win a pair of Super Bowl championships in a five-year span.
Belichick was aghast when he looked at the artificial surface field. He couldn’t believe it.
The field had been lined improperly!
No, it was still 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide. The end zones were both 10 yards long. The hash marks were where they were supposed to be, and the goal posts were on the back line of the end zone, as per NFL rules.
But the numbers identifying each 10-yard mark up and down the field, on both sides, were the wrong size for Belichick’s liking. They weren’t way off, but enough that he decided they would have to be changed before the game the next evening.
On some of the Browns’ pass routes, receivers were instructed to go to a specific spot on the number and make a cut. With the numbers the wrong size, the routes would be different, the timing would be thrown off and the quarterbacks would be throwing to the wrong spots.
The Browns offense wasn’t going to get better that way.
So Belichick sent two young equipment interns to hop into a van, drive back to Browns Headquarters in Berea, get the team’s stencil sets and bring them to SkyDone. It was a 191-mile, four-hour, 15-minute trip – each way.
All for a preseason game.
We in the media laughed about it back then, but now Belichick, who will be trying to win his fifth Super Bowl title when the Patriots meet the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night in Houston, is the one getting the last laugh.
