The 71-year-old coach and team owner Robert Kraft amicably parted ways after 24 years on Jan. 11, 2024, following the end of a dreary season.
Despite my students’ familiarity with the image of Belichick stalking the sidelines, the coach’s world – at least, as far as technology goes – has had little, if anything, in common with theirs.
When he began coaching the Patriots in 2000, and for years afterward, Belichick seemed to ignore the digital revolution erupting around him. He’d joke about a reporter being on “Snapface,” or he’d call Facebook “Your Face.”
Most of the time, though, he exudes stoicism – some might say arrogance – offering little words of value to the fans and the media.
Yet his legendary terseness and his rejection of the latest technology belie a wealth of knowledge about the game and its history. If there ever were a living historian-coach, it was Belichick.
Historian at the lectern
Most reporters covering the Patriots learned the drill during Belichick’s news conferences: ask him about next week’s starters, and you’d get a vague retort, perhaps followed by a snort or a sneer.
But prompt him on football history, and he’d respond like a scholar.
During a 2021 new conference, he delivered a 1,500-word soliloquy on the history of the long snapper, which is perhaps the most specialized, obscure position on a football team – a player tasked with snapping the football during punts and field goal attempts. Before a 2020 game against the Denver Broncos, Belichick analyzed the evolution of a defensive formation consisting of three linemen and four linebackers, known as the “3-4 defense,” which he learned in 1978 during his one year as an assistant to Broncos defensive coordinator Joe Collier.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Greg Bishop described Belichick as “part librarian in addition to all coach,” and the more than 400 football books that the coach donated to the Naval Academy Athletic Association in 2006 reflect his lifelong love of the game’s history.
That passion was spurred on by his father, Steve, who started collecting the works after World War II. The elder Belichick even published a book himself in 1962: “Football Scouting Methods,” a respected primer on how to properly assess opponents by observing their games and detecting tendencies and patterns of play.
The father of football informs ‘The Patriot Way’
The oldest book in the donated collection is “American Football,” written in 1891 by Yale football coach Walter Camp, who’s credited with inventing rules, such as the line of scrimmage, which made the game distinct from rugby.
In the book, Camp also detailed the physical requirements and roles of each position, such as guard and quarterback, and included a chapter for spectators to teach the game to the growing number of fans.
In 1896, Camp updated the book, this time with a co-writer in Harvard coach Lorin Deland. They simplified the title to “Football.”
One chapter, titled “Football Don'ts,” lists 40 tips to help coaches and players win. Belichick never used the expression “The Patriot Way,” the phrase the New England sports media used to describe the Patriots’ team-first culture and disciplined approach under Belichick. But a sampling of the “Football Don'ts” reveals that The Patriot Way has 19th century origins.
The 71-year-old coach and team owner Robert Kraft amicably parted ways after 24 years on Jan. 11, 2024, following the end of a dreary season.
Despite my students’ familiarity with the image of Belichick stalking the sidelines, the coach’s world – at least, as far as technology goes – has had little, if anything, in common with theirs.
When he began coaching the Patriots in 2000, and for years afterward, Belichick seemed to ignore the digital revolution erupting around him. He’d joke about a reporter being on “Snapface,” or he’d call Facebook “Your Face.”