MUST READ! ESPN: An Oral History of Bill Belichick

Call Bill Belichick what you want, but these accounts of his uncompromising life — from prodigy to professional ballbuster — reveal why history might one day call him the greatest.

Source: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is the greatest enigma in sports

Every once and a while an amazing piece on Bill Belichick comes along and today might be one of the all time bests of those days. This oral history is fascinating and is a direct companion to David Halberstam’s Education of a Coach.

This is the real Belichick. Not the caricature the media creates because he doesn’t give them much to work with unless they ask him hard core football questions. That he’ll scoff at stupid or probing questions.

Us fans get a kick out of that, because most of the time those stories the media feels like they “have to ask”, no one really cares about. And many times the reporters themselves are just trying to gain some recognition for themselves by trying to prod Belichick “in the name of journalism.”

This is the Belichick that fascinates us Hoodie Heads. It boils down to his “Be Here Now”-esque mantra and focus on total preparation.  And let’s face it, the guy was basically incubated as a football coach from the moment he was born.

Such a great read, one to hold on to for a long time. Favorite quote from Heath Evans:

“I never had greater admiration for a man besides my father than I had for Bill after the Super Bowl XLII loss. To the 53 men in that locker room and the coaching staff, he delivered a heartfelt apology. He felt like he had really let us down. Despite 18-1 being the most bitter pill I think you can swallow in sports, when I walked out of that Super Bowl locker room that night I still left with kind of a shining moment in my mind about Bill Belichick, how a man that everybody swears is so arrogant and so self-centered is really the exact opposite.”