Friday, February 01, 2002
Evolving from Stone Age to New Age
Patriots' Belichick now relates to his players
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEW ORLEANS — In the five seasons he coached the old Cleveland Browns, Bill Belichick was about as warm as Lake Erie in January.
He cut native son and beloved quarterback Bernie Kosar midway through the 1993 season. Belichick didn't understand the outcry when he flatly cited Kosar's “diminished skills” and replaced him with the forgettable Todd Philcox.
That wasn't Belichick's only offense in Cleveland. He had players wearing pads and beating each other up every day in practice. They called him “Little Hitler.” They felt like they were in the military. Belichick's lack of communication skills were even more pronounced in public.
But Belichick, who rode Bill Parcells' coattails into three Super Bowls, has evolved from Stone Age to New Age, and the change is one of the reasons he's in his first Super Bowl as a head coach.
“I'm a little bit more aware of some of the total things that affect a football team as opposed to just what happens between the white lines,” Belichick said. “There are some things outside the football team that, emotionally and psychologically, I've probably given more attention to than I did, say, when I was in Cleveland.”
Belichick always has been praised as a defensive mastermind. He was Parcells' defensive coordinator for two world championships with the New York Giants. He was Parcells' assistant head coach in charge of the defense when the Patriots lost to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI.
The Patriots' chances Sunday to upset St. Louis depend largely on Belichick's ability to come up with a defensive game plan to slow the high-flying Rams offense.
“I'm better off not getting involved in some things so I can do a better job of managing the team,” he said.
It's that team management that guided the underdog Patriots into the Super Bowl.
Remember, this is the team that lost to the Bengals on opening day. This is the team that lost quarterbacks coach Dick Rehbein to a fatal heart attack during training camp. This is the team that was 0-2 when franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down and was replaced by a quarterback, Tom Brady, who'd thrown only three NFL passes.
But since losing to the Rams 24-17 on Nov.18, the Patriots ran off six wins in a row to win the AFC East. They came back to beat Oakland in the snow, and they went into Pittsburgh and upset the Steelers for the AFC championship.
Belichick gave the team the day off when Rehbein died. He revealed his humanity in mourning for his friend. He took the team to a giant-screen theater to see a movie about Sir Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic expedition in 1914. The lesson: Persevere and stick together.
“I thought we were going to an action movie,” said veteran defensive end Anthony Pleasant, who started for Belichick in Cleveland.
Belichick showed his players Road Runner cartoons but praised Wile E. Coyote for getting up after every plan went wrong.
It was in keeping with a favorite Belichick saying: “The strength of the wolf is the pack.”
After the 0-2 start, Belichick told players — 17 of whom were veteran free agents signed in the offseason — to stay committed. He stuck with Brady even after Bledsoe's internal injuries healed. Belichick suspended star wide receiver Terry Glenn twice for violating team rules.
“It's all about his vision and what he wanted,” Pro Bowl safety Lawyer Milloy said of Belichick.
After the 30-10 loss at Miami, which dropped New England to 1-3, Belichick gathered players around him on the practice field, buried a football and told his players to put the game behind them.
“He had the ball. It had "Miami' with the score and the date on it,” first-year Patriots fullback Marc Edwards said. “He said, "That game is over with. It's time to move on.'”
Said Pleasant: “Rather than showing negative plays after Miami, he showed positive plays, things we did well. In Cleveland, he just showed all negative plays.
“If he had done the things that he's doing now in Cleveland, he probably would still be the head coach there.”
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Evolving from Stone Age to New Age
