A big part of why Bill Belichick is such a good coach and so well respected is because he holds all his players equally accountable. Soon-to-be San Francisco 49ers GM John Lynch shared a great story about that.
Lynch played 11 memorable seasons in Tampa Bay and four more in Denver. The 9-time Pro Bowl safety finished his career with the Patriots in 2008, though he did not play a game for them that season because he retired instead.
While on set for FS1 at Opening Night for the Super Bowl, Lynch related his awesome Belichick story.
“I was a Patriot for three weeks and soaked in as much as I could,” Lynch recalled. “That ‘do your job’ is real. He lives it, he preaches it. Everyone gets coached.
“The most stunning moment I had as a Patriot was when Bill Belichick aired out Tom Brady in front of the whole team. Told him he was more interested in dating supermodels — [Brady] was then dating Gisele — than playing football. And [Belichick] is not afraid to coach anyone. It’s a great environment. Belichick grabs everyone’s attention.”
Lynch later shared more about the circumstances surrounding the undressing of Brady. He says the Pats had hosted a rookie show the night before and then Belichick ripped into the team — namely Brady — the next day.
“It was my first rookie show. It was hilarious. People spoofed Bill Belichick. It was good stuff. But the next day is when Bill came in and said, ‘alright that was good stuff last night, but I’ve got some stuff to get off my chest, and it starts with you,’ [Belichick] said to Brady.”
Lynch says he was the only person in the room not to take Belichick seriously.
“When he said the thing about ‘you’re just more interested in dating supermodels, I just started laughing,” Lynch recalled. “I thought, ‘OK, we’re playing off the rookie show.’ And the whole room including (defensive coach) Matt Patricia looked at me.
“That night — you have to walk by Bill Belichick’s office to get out of there — and I got called into Belichick’s office. So I went in his room, and I said ‘Coach, I’m so sorry.’ And he said, ‘Did you like that?'”
Belichick apparently acknowledged that he had impressed Lynch by showing he was willing to call out anyone on the roster. What’s interesting, though, is that Belichick rarely calls out his players, which means that time was an exception.
