Bill Belichick on why they've kept Matt Cassel around
"I didn't keep him around because he's a good guy, I kept him around because he deserved it, because he earned it. There are plenty of sixth- and seventh-round draft choices that aren't here. And, there are some that have gone on to do very well. But it's based on what they do – it's based on their performance and what they do with the opportunities that they get, not where they were drafted. We've cut second-, third-, fourth-round draft choices. If those guys aren't better than the guys who come in and aren't drafted, or wherever they come from, we're going to keep the best players and the guys that deserve to be here. That's what we believe in, that's the way we try to run the team. Going forward, I think people that look at our situation can say with some confidence, 'We're going to get a fair shot there,' based on our track record. At least I hope so. Because that really is true. … If you sign with us, you're going to get a chance. If you play good enough, then you're going to get a roster spot. If that means some other higher draft choice or some other big name, higher profile guy doesn't play as well, then that's competition. That's what this league's about. And really, that's what this team's about."
November 12
Bill Belichick on undrafted players
"I appreciate them. Absolutely. Guys that are undrafted have a certain degree of underdog status, or longshot or whatever you want to call it, so it's great to see those guys that nobody talks about, or nobody has any hype for, do well and be able to play and compete and have a job and a position in this league. To me, that's what the NFL is all about. It's all about competition. And it's about performance. That's not necessarily the way it is in everything else, but on the football field, that's the way I see it. The guys who play the best, they play the most. They get the opportunity to play more. And the guys that don't, have to earn it. The guys that start from the bottom and come all the way up and earn it as free agents, kind of like a lot of us have – players, coaches – I think that is gratifying and rewarding – to them and overall to the system. And it certainly helps you when you deal with those guys in the future. It's easy next year to point to guys that aren't drafted and say, 'You're going to get a fair shot here,' whether it's BenJarvus [Green-Ellis] or Gary Guyton or Mike Wright or Matt Cassel or [Matt Gutierrez] or Steve Neal. It's not about your pedigree, it's about your performance. And I like that. It's the way it should be. That's the way we try to make it here."
November 12
Mark Kriegel on Belichick-Cassel
"[E]ven more credit is due Belichick. To this point he's gotten more out of a guy who hadn't started since high school than Eric Mangini has gotten out of the NFL's career leader in touchdowns, yards, completions and attempts. By now you've heard a lot about Favre's difficult transition into Eric Mangini's offense. But, really, who had the tougher adjustment: Mangenius and Favre, or Belichick and Cassel?"
Fox Sports, November 11
Cris Collinsworth on Patriots-Colts
"[Matt Cassel has] gotten better and better each week. Bill Belichick and the Patriots have done a great job of nurturing him. I am real interested to see him this week. It's a step up in competition against a big-time quarterback in what is sure to be a playoff atmosphere. I think, because of that, this game becomes more intriguing without Tom Brady, not less. … They lose Brady and a quarterback who essentially hasn't played since high school steps in and they keep on winning. They've lost [Laurence] Maroney and [Sammy] Morris as well. Nothing seems to stop them."
Boston Globe, October 31
Heath Evans on the Patriots
"It says a lot about this team, and the family coach Bill (Belichick) and Scott (Pioli, the player personnel director) have created here. There's a lot of talent hidden on this team. The coaches put people in positions to make plays. If someone goes down, most times, guys are able to go in and do what they're coached to do."
Boston Herald, October 27
Heath Evans on Matt Cassel's confidence & ability to manage the game
"[H]e's had four years with Bill Belichick. At the end of the day, you're not going to be here if he doesn't have confidence in you. I've learned in my four years here to trust Bill. There's not too many times he's wrong, and if he is, he's the first to admit it."
The Point After, October 26
Torry Holt on Super Bowl XXXVI
"I didn't think they cheated. I think they came out and they executed their game plan and they beat us. Even when that (Spygate) stuff came out I didn't make too big of a deal out of it. I just took it as they were the better team on that particular day."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 24
Marc Bulger on the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI
"They were real physical with our receivers – a lot of holding and grabbing. They were kind of the first team that said, 'Hey, we're going to push the limits a little bit with the refs.' … That's not an excuse. It was a smart game plan and it worked."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 24
Adam Schein on Bill Belichick
"I think Belichick is one of the greatest coaches in sports history. That's not NFL history. That's sports history."
FOX Sports, October 21
Junior Seau on playing for the Patriots
"I have a place in my heart for them forever. I wouldn't want to fight for anyone else but [Robert] Kraft and [Bill] Belichick."
Reiss's Pieces, October 12
Vince Wilfork on Bill Belichick
"Nobody in the game is better at dissecting film and turning it into teaching points than Belichick. He's the best in the game. I've never been coached by any other pro head coach, but from what I hear from teammates that have been in different situations, it's as good as it gets."
Boston Globe, October 3
Press Democrat on Bill Belichick
"Patriots Bill Belichick has an incredible football mind. He demonstrated on Wednesday when the Boston-area media asked about the Patriots' lack of familiarity with the 49ers. The question was whether it's one of those things where they have to see them on the field to accurately be able to judge their speed and quickness. Here's Belichick's amazing answer: […] Belichick mentioned 15 players on the 49ers roster. And, furthermore, he did it all without notes. He knew all those players off the top of his head. And he does that every week – regardless of the opponent. Meanwhile, Mike Nolan mentioned one Patriots player by name today. Well, he said 'Wesley Walker,' but I'm pretty sure he meant Wes Welker."
October 1
Mike Sando on Bill Belichick
"Belichick's preparation comes through not just in the way his team plays, but also in the way he answers questions. Check out this answer from Belichick when a reporter asked him Wednesday about a lack of familiarity with the 49ers: […] Unbelievable. Belichick mentioned 15 of the 49ers' players, starters and backups alike, in historical context off the top of his head. … There are probably general managers in the NFL who could not speak that fluently about an opposing team's personnel."
ESPN.com, October 1
Bill Belichick on a player's mechanics
When asked, 'When do mechanics become complete for a guy like Kevin O'Connell?' "I don't know. We're still working on those things with Brady. I think it's an on-going process. I don't think your throwing mechanics – I don't think you ever take them for granted anymore than Tiger Woods takes his golf swing for granted. He works on that everyday. If he can stand out there on a driving range for 14 hours and hit balls, then I think our quarterbacks can work on mechanics and kickers can work on kicking mechanics and defensive linemen can work on pass rushing techniques and everything else. I think that's an on-going process. I don't think it ever stops."
September 30
Bill Belichick on Troy Brown
"Troy, we have so many great memories of you and all that you've done for this organization, this football team and me, personally. I will be forever grateful and indebted to you. It truly has been an honor, truly an honor, to coach you as a professional football player."
Troy Brown Press Conference, September 25
Troy Brown on what has transformed the Patriots
"[G]etting Belichick to come back here and coach this football team, which a lot of people doubted. He didn't have a lot of success in Cleveland, and there are a lot of things that go with that success. Nobody knew what his front office situation was. Nobody knew if he was calling the shots, if he was bringing in the players. I don't know a lot about the coaching business, but it's tough. I do remember the whole Parcells thing, about shopping for the groceries or whatever between him and Mr. Kraft. That's the nature of this business. But when you get a chance to go out there, get your players, you put them in the right position and you get them to win, teach them how to win, it makes big difference. I think bringing Belichick back in here, teaching football the way he knows how to teach it and the way he knows how to play it… He's been around the game for 30-plus years; I think he's somebody you need to listen to when it comes to learning the game of football. He did a great job of getting the right type of players that he wanted to coach and putting it all together and teaching. He taught the game of football. He didn't just put us out on the field and say 'run this play.' He taught us the game of football, taught us the way he wanted it done and it ended up being, and still is, quite successful."
Press Conference, September 25
Bill Belichick on The Hall at Patriot Place
"I think it's certainly worth noting the achievements of the people in The Hall and also what the history of this franchise means to all of us. It just didn't start when we got here."
Press Conference, September 19
Adam Schein on the Patriots
"If you counted out the Patriots, you just don't get it."
FOX Sports, September 16
LaMont Jordan on playing for the Patriots
"After all these years of playing against the Patriots, I wondered why they are so good. Being a Patriot, I realize what it is; the total team effort. Just get your job done, and it comes from the head coach."
Postgame, September 14
Phil Simms on Bill Belichick
"You know what my favorite line was this week after Tom Brady got hurt and Matt Cassel took over? 'Now we're going to see if Bill Belichick can coach.' I think the jury's out. I think he's already proven that he's going to be a Hall of Fame coach."
Patriots-Jets game on CBS, September 14
Troy Aikman on Bill Belichick
"I have enormous respect for Bill Belichick and his versatility, in taking personnel and molding the game plan around that."
Boston Globe, September 12
Donte Whitner on the Patriots
"We're not taking it as a big deal because they still have a lot of good players that were surrounding Brady, and I'm sure that coach (Bill) Belichick, who is one of the best coaches in NFL history, will get (Cassel) ready to play some football."
Democrat and Chronicle, September 11
Norv Turner on Bill Belichick
"Nobody adjusts to circumstances—be it in a game, around the league, over the course of a season—better than Bill. Just look at what he's done over the course of the past five or six years. Completely revamped the way he plays from that first Super Bowl to now. But he can do it in a game, too."
Yahoo! Sports, September 10
Joel Collier on Bill Belichick
"[W]hen you talk about people and their ability to manage situations and get the most out of what he has, Bill is among the best ever. … I can't even begin to tell you the number of times that Bill has known how to work through a situation. It's on a weekly, even daily basis. All great coaches have a feel for the collective psyche of a group and how to handle the team. But Jimmy [Johnson] and Bill are the best at knowing when to create a crisis where there isn't one or how to downplay one where there is."
Yahoo! Sports, September 10
Dick Vermeil on Bill Belichick
"No football team can afford to lose an All-Pro quarterback and expect to perform as well without him. At the same time, no team will react as well to such a loss as Bill Belichick and his Patriots coaching staff. … If you study Bill Belichick's history you'll know that there is no one better at adapting than him. No coach is better prepared."
Washington Post, September 8
Bill Cowher on the Patriots
"I don't think there's any question that people look at the New England Patriots as the model organization. Given the structure of the National Football League, which has virtually created a situation where you just can't do it year in and year out, they've been able to defy that. I think between Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli and obviously Robert Kraft, they've created an environment—how many times do you see veterans take less money to go there because of the opportunity to win? That's a credit to them. No one's going to talk about it but they are the team everybody wants to beat. All the talk of the Jets because of Brett Favre and the Giants coming off the great run that they had and the Cowboys as 'America's Team,' New England has been the team [to beat]. They do it the right way."
Boston Globe, September 4
Bill Belichick on coming off of a Super Bowl loss
"I think it's a fair question, but it is not one I have a great answer to; I haven't studied teams who haven't done well after they lost the Super Bowl. I think we'll do what's best for our team, whether we won the game, or lost it. I don't think it's a motivating factor in our decision-making. I think some of the things we looked at last year, we might do a little bit differently—not a lot differently—but hopefully those will help our attack."
Boston Globe, September 4
Bill Belichick on putting players in a position to succeed
"I think a coach's job is to give the players a chance. There's nothing worse than watching them play on film and feeling like the players did what we asked them to do, but we really just didn't have a chance on the play. [If] they have something called that we just can't handle that well, you certainly don't want to put your players in that position where there isn't much they can do. You want to put them in a position where they at least have a chance and have a fair fight. You don't want to run plays where they have one more guy that you can block or defend, or have plays where you are out-leveraged and don't have a chance to defend what they are trying to run. You want a fair fight and to give the players a chance to be in a position where they can match up evenly with your opponent. Maybe in some cases they can gain an advantage. In the end, you try to stay out of those situations where you don't have a chance. That is the coach's job—to prevent that from happening. That covers a lot of ground, but that's a bad feeling when you are looking at one of those plays and you don't have a chance."
September 3
Bill Belichick on his consistently making it into the postseason
"Good players making good plays. In the end, you win because players make plays on the field. We've had a lot of good players around here who have made a lot of good plays; usually, a few more than what has been made on the other team. I think the games are won on the field by the players and the plays that they make."
September 3
Rich Cimini on Bill Belichick
"[O]n a week-to-week, year-to-year basis, there's no better coach in football. He's a brilliant tactician, known for his in-game adjustments. He's demanding, but flexible. He likes to be in control, but he's not afraid to give responsibility to promising young coaches. Truth be told, he's a bit of an enigma, but genius often comes in that form. The man has won three Super Bowls. Enough said."
NBC Sports, August 27
Bill Belichick on this year's rookie class
"They've worked hard. It's probably been as good a working group as we've had. They've worked hard off the field in the classroom, learning their assignments, studying film, spending extra time with the coaches, learning how to work the Avid equipment—doing some of their own cut-ups and stuff like that. They've worked hard on the field. They make mistakes like all rookies do, and we'll see how they perform over the long haul, not just based on a couple of weeks. But they've put a lot in it [and] they've been accountable—[we] haven't really had any problems with them in terms of any discipline things or [being] late or that kind of thing. They're there early, they're eager, they're ready to go and they consistently try to do their best and try to learn from their mistakes. So I think overall it's been a good group to work with, and that goes all the way back to rookie mini camp and the off-season program when those guys came in in the middle of May—May 15th, May 16th—when they started here. They've been pretty consistent as a group."
Press conference, August 25
Worcester Telegram on Asante Samuel
"Bill Belichick hugged Samuel before the game."
August 23
Pro Football Weekly on the Patriots and Bill Belichick
"Look at all the veterans who have come to New England in recent years, and either resurrected standout careers that were headed south, or went from 'meh' type guys to studs—or at least to much better than they were. Randy Moss. Wes Welker. Junior Seau. Sammy Morris. Jabar Gaffney. Just to name a few. What's even more amazing is that it works the opposite way, too. As in, studs who leave New England never seem to recapture their form away from Gillette Stadium. Deion Branch. David Givens. Adam Vinatieri. Ty Law. Lawyer Milloy. Willie McGinest. Say what you will about Bill Belichick, the guy knows how to get the absolute most out of his players and is masterful at finding the right guys for the Patriots' system."
August 18
John Lynch on the Patriots
"I have always admired this organization from afar. You come out here and you have star players all over with Randy Moss, Tom Brady, [Mike] Vrabel, [Tedy] Bruschi, Rodney [Harrison], you can go on and on with guys like [Richard] Seymour and [Vince] Wilfork. To me, the thing that has always impressed me the most is the way they play the game. I think they play it the right way. They embody the sense of a team as well as anyone. That has led to their success and I think everybody in the league wants to be part of that."
Press conference, August 15
Randy Moss on the Patriots and Bill Belichick
"I like the camaraderie around here, especially in the locker room and on the field. They have a great group of guys in the locker room. I think that is all you can ask for. Coach Belichick understands football and understands his players. He puts us together as one and we come together as a team. That is something you can respect playing in this profession and in this league."
Press conference, August 15
Scott Pioli on improving
"You improve by winning it all, which we didn't do last year. … You improve by finishing what we started and you improve by continuing to build your team toward the future as well."
USA Today, August 14
Tedy Bruschi on losing the Super Bowl
"I've been through both sides of the coin—when you've won Super Bowls and when you've lost Super Bowls—and sometimes it's harder to put it behind you when you've won it. … You think that you don't need to work anymore, you think that you've got it all figured out. But after an unsuccessful season, the fire is burning even more."
USA Today, August 14
Adam Seward on the Patriots
"It was interesting. Being here for three years and playing hard, it was kind of crazy to see a team like New England, who everybody views as the gurus of scouting, who do such a great job of bringing in late-round picks and free agents and turning them into superstars. So when they came calling, it was a tremendous honor, even though things didn't work out. … It was great (to have the interest). Any team in general, especially the Patriots. It just seems that every year, they do something, some way, to win games."
The Herald, August 11
Bill Belichick on deferring the opening coin toss
"I think it will be a regular occurrence, I think it will be what most teams [do]. College coaches that I have talked to have pretty much all told me that everyone always defers when they win the toss in college 100 percent of the time. My guess is that it will approach that in the NFL as well, in time. Whether it does right off the bat, I don't know. It would take some type of extreme conditions or an unusual experience to not do that if you win the toss. That's our approach going into it. I think we will defer unless there is some overriding circumstances that would cause us to do it differently. We will start doing that now."
Conference call, August 8
Roger Cossack on Spygate
"Bill Belichick has steadfastly claimed he had no intention of cheating. Rather, citing the specific wording of the league bylaw on the matter—which reads as if it had been translated from the legalese of some long-forgotten language—he's insisted he just 'misinterpreted' the rules on filming. The coach does seem to have found a little loophole here, as the bylaw only explicitly forbids taping 'that might aid a team during the playing of a game.'"
Boston Magazine, August Issue
Gary Gulman on Spygate
"First of all, Spygate is not a 'gate.' Contragate is a 'gate.' Plamegate is a 'gate.' Christina Applegate is a 'gate.' After the Pats rattle off 20 or so Super Bowl victories in a row, Spygate will become trivia. … So some corners were cut? JFK stuffed the ballot boxes in Chicago. Bill Belichick videotaped defensive signals. And New England is better for both."
Boston Magazine, August Issue
Doug Rubin on Spygate
"During Spygate he refused to discuss in detail the issues surrounding the scandal, angering pundits and adding fuel to the story. Bits and pieces of news dripped out on a regular basis, extending the story through the football season and into the off-season. But Belichick never organized a concerted effort to build public support, and he steadfastly refused to criticize the NFL. (It wasn't until after all the games were over that he even talked openly about the controversy.) So why was Belichick right? He is paid to do one thing: win football games. By making himself the issue, he took the pressure off his players and, in fact, allowed them to use the scandal as a motivating tool. He coached the team to within one freak catch of the greatest NFL season ever and also managed to keep the heat off the team's owners, the Kraft family, a move that helped preserve the Patriots brand and protect the Krafts' impeccable business and charitable reputation."
Boston Magazine, August Issue
Bill Belichick on signing autographs
"I sign [autographs] during the year during training camp. It was nice. I could have been out there for quite a while. There were a lot of people out there. The fan support has been good and I really feel like I have a personal connection. I have spent a lot of time in New England going to school here, living here. I always spent summers up here and it's great. I appreciate it."
Patriots.com, July 28
Donté Stallworth on playing time
"I had no problems with the role I was put in. Would I have liked to run more downfield routes? Yeah. But if you have me and Randy [Moss], who are you going to pick? Randy is a freak of nature. He's a player who comes around every 50 years. I bought in."
Boston Globe, July 13
Phil Simms on whether the Patriots have 'serious holes' going into '08
"No. Absolutely not. Serious holes? Think about it: the Giants had to have a miracle drive at the end of the game to win, to score their second touchdown of the game! So it's not like that defense was showing tremendous weakness. But like any organization and team, you want to upgrade. I think they've probably done that a little bit during the offseason. They drafted some more speed for defense. And their offensive line, well, their offensive line was fine all year and it had a lot of tremendous moments, but they were playing in the Super Bowl, I think, against the best pass rushing defensive line by far in the NFL, and they put a lot of pressure on those linemen by making them block a lot of one-on-ones or manning up and letting Brady spread the field, and it was tough. It didn't work as well as it had the rest of the year."
NFL Total Access, July 4
Michael Wilbon on Bill Belichick
"Yes, the Celtics are professional basketball's top dog again, even if they're not New England's No. 1 sporting attraction . . . or No. 2 for that matter. (You can tell by the way the Celtics' game operations folks kept putting the camera on Bill Belichick whenever they wanted real noise.)"
Washington Post, June 18
Stephen Gostkowski on Bill Belichick
"I'm not going to be one of those guys who runs out there before the coach calls the field goal team because it's not my decision. It's our coaches. I trust everything that they do. They'd been there, done that. Coach Belichick has been coaching more years than I've been alive. There is no way I could ever argue with something he did."
Boston Globe, June 7
Bill Parcells on Spygate
"I think [Spygate] was overblown. If the competition is victimized by someone spying on you—if that happened—it's your fault because you could take precautions to keep that from happening if you're smart enough."
Sun-Sentinel, June 6
Associated Pres on Bill Belichick
"The Garden scoreboard operators have figured out how to fire up the crowd: show Patriots coach Bill Belichick on the scoreboard."
May 29
John Biddiscombe on Bill Belichick
"Anyone that knows Bill and his commitment to coaching understands that there is more to come."
Wesleyan University's Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony, May 29
Bill Belichick on being inducted into the Wesleyan University Athletics Hall of Fame
"I certainly appreciate this honor. There…isn't anything that means more to me in my heart than to be recognized by this university. … It's your school. It's your home. I saw a lot of friends here today and it means a lot that they were here."
Middletown Press, May 23
Kevin McNamara on Bill Belichick
"The stars were out last night, as usual, but the loudest cheers from the crowd for a fellow fan came when Patriots' coach Bill Belichick was shown on the JumboTron. The crowd not only erupted in cheers but chanted 'Bel-i-chick, Bel-i-chick,' for 20 seconds or so."
Providence Journal, May 21
"Bluesilver" on Bill Belichick
"… Belichick is a, if not THE, pivotal figure in the evolution of this league. He gave the league a central nervous system. He showed us how to win consistently under a rule structure designed to prevent teams from dominant runs (i.e. 'parity'; 'cap'). The intelligence he brought to situational defenses, positional groupings, cap management, personnel selection, player and team development is legendary. And he won with teams that were considered to have less individual talent than most (i.e., the 'waiver wire team'). Is it any surprise that fans of other teams which get by mainly by brute force, sideline talk of 'farts' and 'turds' (see Brett Favre), and large contracts to Terrell Owens, despise the man? They always did. Belichick was never really part of their game. Even before Spygate broke, he was viewed contemptuously by fans of other teams for winning in ways that we could not see ON THE FIELD. He won with Xs and Os, with the whole-is-greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts team play, and with behind-the-curtain organizational excellence. You almost need alchemy or the physics of field forces to understand how this team performs, because it's not always available to the naked eye and to the 10% of our brain that only sees billiard-ball style cause-and-effect relationships. Decades from now we should be studying him like Shakespeare, that is, if we weren't fans of a sport."
FanNation, May 18
Mike Martz on Spygate
"I had the opportunity to talk to Commissioner [Roger] Goodell yesterday and I was very satisfied with the NFL's efforts to investigate the situation with Matt Walsh as it related to Super Bowl XXXVI. I'm very confident that there was no impropriety. I believed Bill Belichick when he said there wasn't and I took that at face value. Let me make this clear—we lost to the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl because we turned the ball over three times. If there was anything obtained from our walk-thru from a casual observer that happened to be present, then that was just part of those walk-thrus and that environment. What I've said all along and what my only concerns were if A): If the walk-thru was filmed or B): If it was purposely scouted for information. If so, then that is an issue that the league needs to pursue. I'm very satisfied that this was not the situation in this instance whatsoever."
NFL.com, May 15
Victor Hobson on the Patriots
"[T]his organization is basically what people are trying to be."
Boston Globe, May 8
Fernando Bryant on the Patriots
"That's something that's talked about among players—there aren't too many teams in the league right now that have a track record of bringing veterans in, and allow them to continue to progress in their career. I like the way they handle veterans here and welcome them in."
Boston Globe, May 7
Robert Kraft on Belichick/Pioli
"As far as when they picked, who they picked, I have a lot of confidence and trust in Bill [ Belichick] and Scott [ Pioli] and their understanding of value and what's in the marketplace. And also their understanding of our staff and what's happening—we just don't do things for this year. We're thinking about this year, two years, three years, five years. You have to look at a decision like that in totality, not as an isolated decision."
Boston Globe, April 30
Justin McCareins on Spygate
[Q: "You were with the Jets last season. Is the Bill Belichick vs. Eric Mangini 'Spygate' stuff overblown?"] "I think people make a little bit too big of a deal out of it. They obviously had a really talented team and he's a heck of a coach. That was against us; they beat us so bad it didn't make a difference. I didn't care too much and I didn't follow the story too much."
Northern Star, April 29
Bill Belichick on Jon Bon Jovi
"Jon Bon Jovi is one of the most accomplished entertainers of his time. But he is also a businessman and philanthropist who, by virtue of incredible vision, energy and intelligence, has bettered the lives of so many. There isn't a more loyal, hardworking, generous person."
Who they would nominate for The Time 100, April 24
Bill Belichick on Spygate
"[T]he main point of the commissioner's discipline and his comments on the integrity of the game—which of course, I support 100 percent, nobody loves the game more than I do, I've had a long history in it, and I 100 percent support what his comments have been. The positive in all the things that have happened here in the last six months have been that we, organizationally, tightened a lot of things up and we're going to make sure that nothing like this ever happens again, or even approaches this. That's been a positive of it. We streamlined our efficiency in our organization and it's certainly spurred on by the situation that happened in September. That part of it, I think we're stronger and better than we were."
AFC Coaches' Breakfast, April 1
Tony La Russa on Bill Belichick
"Bill has one of the greatest minds of anyone I've ever known."
ESPN Insider Blog, March 13
Ernie Accorsi on Bill Belichick
"I learned that sometimes he's harsh, but he's never phony. He's very direct. … He's a brilliant football man— and not just defense, which many people don't know. I think he ranks with the greatest of all time, with George Halas, Paul Brown, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh."
CBS Sports, March 5
Tony Dorsett on Kraft/Belichick
"They've done it second to none. You can't do anything but congratulate Belichick and Mr. Kraft on a job well done. You can't deny what they've done. … [W]hen you talk about the team concept they do it better than anybody in the history of this league."
Wilton Villager, March 5
Jim Leyland on Bill Belichick
"It would be an honor to meet him. He has to be special to do what he's done. I like the way he runs things. I don't think you ever hear it's the Belichick way. It's not his way, it's the right way. That's what I've tried to do bring here. I think that's the way Belichick does it."
Extra Bases, March 5
Tony La Russa on Bill Belichick
"Bill only shows one side to the media. But with his friends, he's warm and personable. He has a sense of humor. We've had great conversations. And if you're a friend, he's there for you. He's a caring person. … In the NFL, all the coaches are trying to get an edge in some way. It's always been that way in that league. Bill isn't any different."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 30 |
