Photo: Steve Glass, Flickr
New England runs one of the most cutthroat organizations in one of the most cutthroat businesses, and that's the reason why the team has had so much success in this era.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who has won three Super Bowls and been to five since 2001, discussed Bill Belichick's approach to coaching and what it's like for a player to adapt to the Patriots' way of doing things when speaking on the "Dennis & Callahan" show on WEEI radio in May:
“There’s a lot of things that go into be a good player, especially on our team. Coach Belichick always tells us it’s not an easy program that he runs. Some guys come from other teams, and maybe they’re not really held as accountable on a daily basis, but coach Belichick – if I throw an incompletion, I’m going to hear about it. I think guys come, maybe they’ve been in the league for a while, and they’re like ‘Why is he always yelling? Why is he so tough on us?’ He just tries to keep the pressure on us, because he feels that’s the way that he gets the most out of us.
“There’s a lot of things that go into be a good player, especially on our team. Coach Belichick always tells us it’s not an easy program that he runs. Some guys come from other teams, and maybe they’re not really held as accountable on a daily basis, but coach Belichick – if I throw an incompletion, I’m going to hear about it. I think guys come, maybe they’ve been in the league for a while, and they’re like ‘Why is he always yelling? Why is he so tough on us?’ He just tries to keep the pressure on us, because he feels that’s the way that he gets the most out of us.
"I think that you can tell relatively early the way that a guy responds to that type of coaching, you can look in his eyes in the huddle and see how confident and comfortable he is in what you’re asking him to do. Sometimes you get in the huddle and I’m looking at the guy and he’s looking at me, and he’s got this expression on his face like, ‘Oh God, what’s the play? Am I going to know where to go? Am I going to know how to do it? Am I going to be able to do what the coaches are asking me to do?’ Some guys you know right away, some guys it takes a couple of months."
It's pretty clear Belichick's no-nonsense philosophy has rubbed off on Brady, as has the Patriots' "what have you done for me lately?" approach to keeping guys around or sending them off.
"Obviously it can’t take forever," Brady said of players adapting to the Patriots' system. "This is a performance-based business, if you’re not on the field performing and helping the team win, you’re not going to be around long, you can’t just think that you’re going to have two redshirt seasons and then you’re going to be the second string behind the fourth year senior and then you’re going to get your chance to play.
"You’re going to have to establish your own role for yourself. If you don’t, you’re not going to be in this business very long.”
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