Yay, post 12,000! And we might as well make it a BB football theory one.
I think because Belichick really came to prominence as a defensive coordinator with the Giants and then won the first Super Bowl with the Patriots with a historic defensive performance he tends to get more of a nod for defense, but really, he’s an all-around innovative football coach who deserves as much credit for his advances on offense as he does on defense.
I think it really boils down to the same things on both sides of the ball. His ability to put his players in a position to succeed by playing to their strengths. There’s a simplicity and focus to his style that enables his teams to execute a strategic gameplan that is right on target.
I think far too much time gets spent on criticizing what BB does and not enough time on analyzing why he did it. The evolution on both sides of the ball over the last decade mirrors the evolution of the game itself and in many ways was a driving factor for many of the changes we’ve seen in the game over the years.
His/McDaniels incorporation of the spread offense in 2007 to the ultra-fast no-huddle the last few years, or the changing of his defense from a traditional 3-4 to playing primarily sub-defense that plays elements of the two-gap 3-4 and one-gap 4-3 at the same time.
Someday after it’s all over we’ll truly get a chance to appreciate the force of nature Bill Belichick was for the game of football. Until then we can just keep reading about how he can’t draft and doesn’t answer questions the way the media wants him to.
