Bill Belichick Does A Rare Out Of Town Interview, Still Says Next To Nothing

Bill Belichick Does a Rare Out of Town Interview, Still Says Next to Nothing

I’ve never actually heard of Bill Belichick doing an out of town interview on a radio station. However, he actually did one in preparation for the Patriots’ next game against the Arizona Cardinals. Silly me for thinking he would open up a little bit more outside of New England. Nothing can ever be taken away from Bill Belichick as a head coach. The man is brilliant and has been successful at a high level for a long, long time so he has his way of doing things and there is really no reason to change very much. The only problem is his way is boring, robotic and missing a personality. Bill Belichick joined KTAR in Phoenix with Doug and Wolf to talk about Tom Brady picking up win number 125, what it is that Tom Brady does so well, whether he has addressed the replacement officials with his team, how different he is from his time coaching the Browns and what he sees with the Arizona Cardinals.

On Tom Brady picking up win number 125:

“The games that we have won have been team victories and Tom certainly had a lot to do with those wins but so did a lot of other guys and he wouldn’t be able to do it with those offensive lines, receivers, the defense, the kicking game and so forth, so I know he just tries to work hard and do his job but that’s what we all try to do and hopefully at the end of the day, we can collectively do enough to come out on top. Tom’s been an outstanding player for us for a number of years. Very well prepared and team-oriented and I’m sure he’d be the first one to tell you that as well. It’s really about how the team does and how he interacts and executes with his teammates. You just can’t do it alone in this sport.”

What it is that Tom Brady does so well:

“I think the main things that he does that are exceptional are his preparation, his understanding of our offense and what the defense is doing. His accuracy, he can put the ball in a good place most of the time and his decision making, he’s able to lead the coverages, make good decisions based on not only play but game situations, end of the game clock, down and distance, time management and that kind of things. Take care of the ball in the pocket, protect the ball and not turn it over.”

Whether he has talked about the replacement officials with his team:

“We’ve talked about it but we really can’t control anything that goes on out there on the field except what we do. Whatever happens, we have to deal with and adjust to whether that’s our opponents or how the game is being called or whatever it happens to be so we really try to prepare for what we can control. That’s our performance, our execution, our communication and whatever else happens then we will deal with it as it comes.”

How much he believes he has changed since his time coaching the Browns:

“I’ve tried to do things I think pretty much the same. Every now and then I go back and look at notes and notebooks and some of the team meetings, practices and things like that. Scott O’Brien is here with me from Cleveland so I think a lot of those things are really fundamentally the same, the differences are, part of it is the game. There are different rules in terms of dealing with the players, practices and of course, the game has become much more of a spread out game offensively which has necessitated defenses matching to that type of offense. We have changed rules in the kicking game relative to kickoffs and things like that but overall I try to coach and prepare the team pretty similar to what you (Ron Wolfley) remember 20 years ago in Cleveland.”

What he sees when he looks at the Arizona Cardinals:

“I see a very talented team. I think there are some of the very best players at their position on this team. Guys like (Larry) Fitzgerald, (Calais) Campbell, (Adrian) Wilson, (Patrick) Peterson, and guys like that. They’re very good in the kicking game, very dangerous in the return game, with their kick blocking skills and as you know that can turn a game around quickly. They’re very dangerous there and offensively they have good backs, good tight ends, good receivers, quarterbacks that are different styles but have both been effective. Have to prepare for both of those and be ready for both guys. Defensively they are quick and active up front, they cause a lot of negative plays with their speed and the quickness they have on the defensive line with (Darnell) Dockett, Campbell and the edge players. They’re fast inside. (Daryl) Washington is another active guy inside. Stewart Bradley was impressive in preseason with blitzes and had a couple of sacks in there as well, gets his hands on a couple of balls in pass defense and of course Wilson is a guy that you have to know where he is on every play with his ability to blitz, make big hits and very instinctive reading the quarterback. Kerry Rhodes, we played against him with the Jets for five years and he’s another big, athletic guy.

I think they have really good size and athleticism in the secondary. Wilson is really an enforcer and the playmakers that they have in the secondary and linebackers to go with their pass-rush and their blitzing scheme up front, it’s dangerous too so they’re a strong team all the way around and I think last week was a really good test of their character. Couple of tough calls at the end of the game, Seattle has four plays inside the ten yard line and can’t get it in. I think Kenny (Ken Whisenhunt) has done a really good job coaching the team and they’re playing with a lot of confidence and have a lot of good players. Have a lot of guys that are really hard to deal with it.”