Belichick begins again
Coach’s preseason script ever evolving
FOXBORO — Almost always, Bill Belichick’s message in training camp is the same.
“It feels like he has notes — ‘Alright, I’m going to say this on the first day, I’m going to say this on the second day,’ ” Patriots safety Duron Harmon said with a laugh. “He’s just consistent. He doesn’t change up. Certain days, I know what he’s going to say, I know exactly how he’s going to say it.”
The script has been in place for a long, long time. It works wonderfully. It keeps the players grounded, it bores the media. A perfect combo.
No coach in sports has been as successful at getting his team to turn the page, regardless of the most recent result, so why alter the script?
Other aspects of Belichick’s approach, though, are constantly evolving.
Before the Patriots took the field for their first practice of their 2018 training camp, Belichick discussed how he identifies aspects of his program that need to be adjusted, even if the tweaks don’t appear significant.
“When we talk about our program, it’s a 12-month thing,” Belichick told The Herald yesterday. “Each of (the phases) have their own time and place, and things that are unique and specific to them.
“So training camp is training camp. We can talk about things we’ve done last year in training camp that we want to improve on, other ideas that come in from other sources. We’ve collectively talked about them and made a decision for what we’re going to go with this year, which is a little bit different than what we’ve done in the past.”
The Patriots were pioneers of the joint practice. Couldn’t get enough of them. From 2012-17, they participated in 10 joint practice sessions, linking up with the Texans, Saints, Bears, Redskins, Eagles and Buccaneers.
This summer, they have zero.
“It just depends what the landscape is,” Belichick explained. “It gives us a different schedule the last couple of years when we did do that. That’s all. I’m not for or against it, but you have to change. You can’t just go off last year’s schedule.”
The composition of Belichick’s staff — another minor (but important) aspect of the organization — seems to be fluid. The Patriots are going without a defensive coordinator this season, although linebackers coach Brian Flores is expected to assume a larger play-calling role. It’s an uncommon move in the NFL, but one Belichick has used before.
They hired a “consultant to the head coach,” scooping up Bret Bielema, a bigtime college football coach who has recently held jobs at Wisconsin and Arkansas. Bielema’s role remains undefined. He had a close eye on special teams during spring practices, and appeared to be doing a bit of everything yesterday.
Of course, there are changes on a macro-level that are more visible to the public. The Patriots transitioned from a horizontal offense to one with vertical elements in 2017, when Tom Brady saw a spike in deep pass attempts. They have built offenses around the two-tight end set. They’ve made the slot receiver position invaluable. They’ll run 42 times one week and throw 50 times the next. They’re highly unpredictable, and that’s because of Belichick.
During his opening press conference at training camp on Wednesday, which was mostly spent fending off questions about Malcolm Butler and Jimmy Garoppolo, Belichick dropped an interesting comment. He mentioned that he needed to fine-tune his own skills at the beginning of each camp.
He didn’t seem interested in elaborating on this topic yesterday, simply indicating that the self-evaluation process in ongoing throughout the year.
“We do it every week,” Belichick said.
It’s like the Monday after a game. Following the draft, for example, Belichick and the staff will immediately evaluate their own performance.
“While it’s fresh in our minds, we go over what we do, individually and collectively,” Belichick said. “Because a lot of those times, those situations don’t come up for another 12 months.”
They file away their notes, and they’ll revisit them when necessary. Then it’s on to whatever comes next.
It’s a never-ending cycle — information coming in, contemplating ideas, revising strategy.
For this reason, Belichick believes NFL coaches improve with age.
“All of us,” Belichick said. “How can you not? You learn something every day. I don’t know how it would make you worse.”
Entering his 44th NFL training camp, and 19th as head coach of the Patriots, Belichick surely has new tweaks ready . . . and a tired, old message to share.
Asked about a vision for his future, how much longer he wants to do this, Belichick kept the focus on training camp.
“Right now,” he said, “it’s day to day.”
‘All of us. How can you not? You learn something every day. I don’t know how it would make you worse.’
— BILL BELICHICK on NFL coaches getting better with age