In 'The Art of Winning,' Bill Belichick focuses on his true loves: football and coaching
In 'The Art of Winning,' Bill Belichick focuses on his true loves: football and coaching
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Bill Belichick, CBS release statements interview goes viral
University of North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick and CBS released statements after clashing during an interview.
The subject of Bill Belichick's love life has transcended sports in recent weeks. His first book, however, 'The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football' (out Tuesday May 6, Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster, $35) refocuses the public on Belichick's first and truest love: coaching football.
The 280-ish pages breeze by as a love letter to the sport he holds so dearly and the profession he mastered, in coaching, which also made him extremely rich and influential. Hence the book.
Belichick tells dozens of football stories, and his analogies often revolve around what it was like to lead an NFL team for 25 years, as he weaves in and out of the New England Patriots' dynasty. Along the way, he supremely praises people – and there are no surprises here – such as Lawrence Taylor, Tom Brady, Bill Parcells and, of course, his father.
The influence of Steve Belichick, an author himself who wrote 'Football Scouting Methods,' on his son cannot be understated and the book makes that clear. 'The Art of Winning' is an ode from Bill to Steve, and a sort of second edition to 'Football Scouting Methods.' Without Steve's time as a scout and coach at Navy, there is no Bill Belichick. That 'The Hoodie' comes across as a drill sergeant at times during the book makes total sense.
'That's summer camp stuff,' he writes during one of his many lessons.
The writing style is similar to Belichick's staccato speech pattern. Sentences are normally brief. Most of the substance is instruction. Some of it is rehashing. He'll say it's setting the record straight — sure, but it's also settling the score.
After becoming famous for 'do your job,' he wants to tell us how he did the job – it's weird to describe it in the past since, given that he's currently employed as a Division I head coach at a major university. The final words of the epilogue point to that future, with a wink to the past.
At times, Belichick can come across like he's binged too many 'Diary of a CEO' podcasts and that he (or the ghostwriter) kept a C-suite thesaurus beside their computer. The advice isn't always original, but the specifics and real-world applications are digestible, even if the mention of performance reviews feels like it's pulled straight from a corporate handbook.
The book is not a tell-all but it does provide a peak behind the curtain with which Belichick shrouded the Patriots. There are stories about Adam Vinatieri and Richard Seymour that I was previously unaware of. There is legitimate insight into his coaching process and how he motivated his team. How he taught his team.
Not shocking is the adequate and suspected reverence of his favorite football things, such as special teams and weird rules. Some memories display his genius – the ice pick method, for example.
Belichick's coaching career apparently ended after the Patriots won their final Super Bowl in February 2019. There's hardly one reference from Brady's final season with the team on. There is no mention of Robert Kraft, or SpyGate, or DeflateGate. Roger Goodell is thanked in the acknowledgements. The Bourbon Street bar Pat O'Brien's is mentioned in a section looking back at his college years at Wesleyan and again during a thought about discipline.
Belichick spends an equally inordinate yet appropriate amount of time discussing Brady. Page No. 199 is dedicated to him (there are three other such page dedications in the book, but no more spoilers). There's a cool Brady story from Sept. 25, 2001 that Belichick says has never been public before. If this book was indeed a love letter, the third recipient behind 'football' and 'Steve Belichick' would be 'Tom Brady.' They literally say they bring out the best each in other, Belichick in the book, Brady in his testimonial. That's platonic, intergenerational love.
Winning is an obvious theme. 'I've been to the top,' Belichick writes, 'and the top … is very good.' But there's also an emphasis on adaptability, a trademark of every Belichick game plan, and how that skill allowed the Patriots to remain the NFL's most fearsome opponent for nearly 20 years.
Belichick is at his best when he's teaching, as he was during his back-and-forths with the media. The history nerd in Belichick shines as an author. The 'Professor Belichick,' class is in session sections are the most enjoyable. Talking about the mundane, or the unexpected, is what gets the juices flowing for 'BB.'
The classic bluntness of Belichick never takes a page off. A random 2004 preseason story occupies more space than some of the most famous moments in NFL history, during which Belichick occupied the sidelines. Some of the passages can come across as 'get-off my lawn,' 'old-man-yells-at cloud,' but it's vintage Belichick. He bumps up against technology and social media. It's who he is. And he's probably, at the very worst, mostly right.
That can also lend itself to some 'how do you do, fellow kids,' attempts at humor that don't hit. The comedy ranges from dad jokes to witty thoughts to overexertion. The number of parenthetical notes is excessive and eventually becomes distracting.
Belichick name checks like no other throughout the book. Every Belichick fave – think Mike Vrabel (the current Patriots head coach), James White, Matthew Slater, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi – has their origin story told from the coach's point of view.
At first, the self-awareness from Belichick is abrupt. But the book spells out how accountability with oneself was integral to the Patriots' success. He addresses fans of the Atlanta Falcons directly, under predictable context. He says, 'I admit at times I have been uncooperative with the media.' He derides the constant media obligations of an NFL head coach and counsels on the advantages of speaking softly.
'But there's another side to strategic communications: knowing when not to speak,' Belichick said.
That's timely.
Belichick admits to a mistake during the first loss to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl, which spoiled the Patriots' pursuit of a perfect season. Other excerpts and reviews have harped on the 'I (expletive) up,' portion, but the context of that lesson is that it's about making mistakes and being accountable for the team.
Another interesting mistake Belichick copped to was fumbling New England's post-Brady succession plan. How does going from Brady to Lamar Jackson, the two-time MVP with the Baltimore Ravens, sound? Belichick said the Patriots didn't want to adapt and passed on Jackson twice in the 2018 first round. He then casually mentioned hoisting a Lombardi Trophy ten months later.
A year ago, Belichick had just crushed as a member of 'The Pat McAfee Show' at the 2024 draft in Detroit. He's much better-suited in the television medium compared to the written word, and the three-time Coach of the Year proved that with his 'Manningcast' appearances during the regular season and role on CW's 'Inside the NFL.'
But few people can churn out a book in a year based on their life experience and secure a testimonial from one of the following individuals, let alone all of them: Michael Jordan, Nick Saban, Brady, Goodell, Ray Dalio, Admiral William H. McRaven and Suzy Welch.
Again, all of this Belichick hoopla over the last month or so is the direct result of this book's publication. He was promoting it on CBS when his romantic and business partner Jordon Hudson chimed in with the interruption heard around the world.
The book is dedicated to Belichick's parents, grandparents, godfather and children. But the first acknowledgement is for Belichick's longtime consigliere, Berj Najarian. The second section of thanks went to his literary team. The third?
'Thank you to my idea mill and creative muse,' Belichick wrote. 'Jordon Hudson.'
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