Belichick explains staffing philosophy
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is among the all-time greats in his profession and the guarded tactician candidly explained how he views his coaching staff recently.
Belichick, who captured five Super Bowls with the Patriots and two as the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, demonstrated how his assistants work in conjunction with each other during an appearance at Ohio State's coaching clinic.
"The way I see a football staff being put together is that it’s a group of head coaches," Belichick said. "The head coach is the head coach, and he has certain restrictions in the program that he's running - whether it's academic, salary cap, players in that district, budget constraints, whatever they happen to be. The coaches below that, coordinators, are really head coaches of their respective side of the ball: offense, defense, special teams. Position coaches are really head coaches of the positions they coach, that group of players."
Belichick's coaching tree is extensive at this juncture of his career, with Bill O'Brien, Jim Schwartz, and Nick Saban going onto become NFL head coaches among others after working under him.
The Patriots czar said it's fundamentally important for players and coaches to believe in a common end goal.
"I think the most important thing as a head coach is, No. 1, to make sure everyone is on the same page and understands what you want them to do and how you want it done. That’s not to say everything has to be rigid, but I think there have to be guidelines. The clearer those are, just talking about the head coach - if you want to install your philosophy, your style of play, your standards - those have to be done forcefully; they have to be done without too much deviation."
- With h/t to ESPN