While players must cultivate and maintain a sense of invincibility, coaches ensure they stay grounded and that no one becomes bigger than the team. With a long-standing reputation for running a football program like a well-oiled machine, Bill Belichick had no issue keeping his guys in line.
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His no-nonsense reputation precedes him, and there are a million stories about Belichick’s temper. While reliving their favorite moments from their time spent with the New England Patriots, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman shared their most beloved short-tempered moments with the head coach.
On the latest episode of their Dudes on Dudes podcast, Gronkowski confessed that his personal favorite was the moment when Belichick cussed him out in a “funny way”.
After the star tight end bragged that it would take at least 10 players to tackle him, the generational head coach quickly shut him down.
“Coach Belichick loved not giving any info to the media or hype yourself up and make expectations that aren’t reachable… He puts that little clip up on the screen the next day, and he makes an example out of me,” recalled Gronk.
“He goes, ‘You’re telling everyone it takes 10 guys to tackle you, how about you just shut the f up’?” He added. Thankfully, Gronk took the harsh advice in stride, noting that Belichick’s remarks had caused the entire team room to burst into laughter.
After his former teammate highlighted that their coach “humbled you in the best way possible,” Edelman couldn’t help but emphasize the effectiveness of Belichick’s approach.
“That was his way of getting at you. If you hyped yourself up, he would read it to the team, and then he would just show you the seven worst plays that you did in the game… He would humble you through your play, through facts,” said Edelman.
Despite his seemingly rude demeanor and no-nonsense attitude, the legendary coach certainly earned the respect and admiration of his players. Given the span of the New England dynasty, it’s almost impossible to argue with his methods.
Edelman recalls Belichick throwing challenge flags
While narrating some of the funny moments of Belichick’s career, Edelman couldn’t help but reminisce on his former coaches’ various attempts at challenging play calls. While the former Patriots head coach had a notoriously disgusting throwing form, Edelman circled back to the time when he found an old video of Belichick on the internet.
While doing research on Bill prior to joining the ranks of the New England roster, Edelman felt perplexed by the way he made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
“I found the video of him making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in Cleveland. I thought to myself, he puts peanut butter on both sides of the bread and puts the jelly in between because he said it locks it in. I said the jelly to peanut butter ratio is so dorky, who is this guy? I was like, who is this dork? But he was a smart guy, I guess. It actually worked,” narrated Edelman.
While the debate surrounding the proper way to make peanut butter and jelly will likely never be settled, there is no debate around the efficiency of Belichick.
Now attempting to reignite the Carolina Tar Heels, fans and former players alike are waiting to see if the legendary head coach can bring that same kind of efficiency to a collegiate program.
