Bill Belichick Is the Artichect of Winning

A self-proclaimed fanatic of all things football; Bill Belichick is the architect of a winning system. 

Those steely-blue eyes reveal nothing about what drives him you just see the results from his 3-1 record in four super-bowl appearances as a head coach.

His only loss, I believe, to this day is because he wore a red-hoodie as if in tribute to his days on the Giant coaching staff.

Did he want his old friend Tom Couglin to win one for sentimental reasons; but I digress.

His players react like they are in the matrix with their stoic responses to the media.  Tom Brady is Belichicks' "Mr. Smith" infusing his teammates with that Bill-iv-ian way.

His proteges are littered all over the professional and college football landscape:

1. Eric Mangini head coach of the Browns.

2. Romeo Crennel who was replaced by Mangini as head coach of the Browns.

3. Josh McDaniels head coach of the Denver Broncos.

4. To some extent Scot Pioli the new GM of the Kansas City Chiefs.

5. Charlie Weiss at Notre Dame.

Other teams pilfer his staff and roster but none have been able to duplicate his results yet. Josh McDaniels might just break that trend in Denver.

Players who leave via free agency or have been released seldom thrive. The sole exceptions are Adam Vinateri who won his fourth super-bowl ring with the Colts and to some degree Ashante Samuels with the Eagles. 

Names like David Patten, Drew Bledsoe, Terry Glenn, Deion Branch, and Ty Law are merely skeletal figures of his football past. 

He understands the dimensions and shelf-life of the players he drafts and acquires.

He holds sentimental attachment to few players; only those who thrive to retire like Troy Brown and Tedy Bruschi whose nine-lives career is remarkable.

He rarely misses with his draft picks and he has patience to develop players with a platoon system that works masterfully on the football field.

He also employs the same system with his coaching staff ensuring continuity with as little disruption to the system. The system must prevail in Bill's world; that sharing of knowledge must be kept in tact. 

Bill O' Briens promotion to quarterbacks coach is an example of that. Just like McDaniels he performed double duty prior to the promotion; he was the wide receivers coach and helped Josh with the quarterbacks.

Belichick's challenge this year is to shore up the secondary he parlayed 11 draft picks into a very solid draft.  He opted out of selective rounds via trades when needed and still ended up with good results. 

Patrick Chung SS

Belichick sees him spending some time at the corner but for now he just has to learn the system.

Terence Nunn WR

Could he spell relief for Welker in the slot in situational sets?

Darius Butler CB

Generally regarded as the top CB in the Big East, Butler is known as a team player.  He also brings versatility and can slide to the wide receiver position, maybe a little tinkering at return if he is not ready to start at corner?

Brandon Tate WR/Punt Returns

Tate almost set NCAA marks for total yardage in put returns. He is one of only nine players in NCAA history to return a punt and a kickoff for a touchdown in the same game.

These are just a few of the gems who got by astutely assessing that they would still be there in the later rounds.

Doc Rivers the head coach of the Boston Celtics routinely seeks him out in conversation and Bill willing drops pearls of coaching wisdom on his coaching frat-brother.  

Bill treads where no other head-coach dares to tread, he was breaking down film at the age of twelve.  Reels of grainy footage from that experince formed a permanent imprint on his football psyche and influences the plays he designs.

He is a football savant a man driven to do football things born from that twelve year-old mind.