This Bill Belichick And Nick Saban Coaching Documentary Will Be Must Watch Television
I appreciate the NFL going all out for the 100th year of football. From minor details like the patches on all the jerseys, to the NFL All Time 100 Greatest Players special that NFL Network has coming out in November, to this. I’m going to watch every single second of all of it. Mostly because it would appear that Bill Belichick will be featured heavily throughout. Which is cool as hell. Bill has this reputation that he’s curt and hates talking. Which has never been true. Bill Belichick just hates stupid questions and refuses to answer them. Any time someone asks him a half decent question, especially one with some sort of historical context, and he’ll talk for 10 minutes straight. So him speaking explicitly about the last 100 years of football at length is incredibly exciting.
It also scares the shit out of me. Because for all the talk about Brady calling it quits in the not-too-distant future, we seem to neglect even contemplating Belichick’s mortality. Sure, he’s a coach. It’s what he was born to do, it’s all he’s ever known, he’d probably get buried on the sideline if they’d let him. But while I acknowledge that he isn’t a bad quote, he’s never been one to grant unlimited access, either. Last offseason, Josh McDaniels was contractually gone to Indianapolis. Papers signed, the whole shebang. Until he resigned in a haste, going back to his old post as offensive coordinator. Many chalked it up to Andrew Luck’s health being a red flag, which today looks more fair than it did at the time. But there were plenty of others saying that a head coaching gig was waiting for him sooner than later in New England. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, perhaps Belichick just really wanted to be part of the NFL’s centennial. But it feels somewhat like an old magician beginning to unveil some of his tricks. And with this being the first time I’ve even contemplated a post-Belichick world in New England, I’ve gotta be honest with you: I don’t care for it. Not one bit.