Home > Work > Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion
1 " There was the poignancy of a team in red, white, and blue uniforms- called the Patriots no less- attempting to reach an ideal that has long resonated the American soul. "
― Michael Holley , Patriot Reign: Bill Belichick, the Coaches, and the Players Who Built a Champion
2 " They were diverse when it came to religion, age, economic status, philosophy, and race. "
3 " They chose to be introduced as a team. "
4 " He tells one about a family vacation in Europe in the mid-1990s. No matter where they went, the Belichick’s saw dozens of Europe’s aged churches. They saw landmarks and a certain recurring icon. At one point Brian turned to his parents and said, ‘Who is this guy? We’re seeing him everywhere.’The ‘guy’ was Jesus Christ.‘I don’t know if I should tell that story,’ Belichick says, shaking his head. ‘People are going to think we’re bad parents. "
5 " Before they can know what they need, they need to know who they are. This is one of Belichick’s core philosophies, and it is why he was sitting in this Gillette Stadium room with a binder, notebook, pens, and pages of football statistics. "
6 " Belichick’s ‘genius’- a term he does not like applied to himself- is more than an ability to easily sift through distractions and nonsense and identify the central point. "
7 " Special teams, field position, and situational football are all Belichick staples "
8 " They’re going to come in here and blow smoke up your ass,’ the coach was saying. ‘They’re going to give you blow jobs , tell you how great you are, they’re going to pile it on thick… "
9 " Take the president of the United States, for example,’ he says. ‘I’m not talking about George Bush specifically as much as I’m generally talking about the position of president. What an awesome responsibility that must be to lead a country under the most scrutiny. "
10 " He is intrigued by complex minds. "
11 " They truly respect those who do grunt work, so much so that they are willing to promote them if they show the aptitude to be promoted. "
12 " What most surprises people who don’t know him is how much he enjoys a good laugh, usually when he’s away from work and sometimes when he’s at it. "