While Bill Belichick can, at times, be playful - evidenced at this week's minicamp in Foxboro - it's his son who provides the most insight when the lights come on.
Steve Belichick, the New England Patriots' linebackers coach, made an entertaining and informative visit to former NFL player Chris Long's "Green Light" podcast recently. During it, the youngest Belichick touches on everything from New England's toughest loss, to which player he'd let babysit his three children, to the most underrated Patriots player, to why the team still needs to practice outdoors ahead of road games in a dome.
The most shocking - and morbid - moment was Belichick's analogy of the Super Bowl LII loss to Long's Philadelphia Eagles.
“We have a saying around here: ‘Once you get to the playoffs, only one plane lands — and everybody else crashes and burns in the ocean. It’s the truth. Only one team’s plane is going to land and everybody else is going to crash and burn. That time of the year, it’s either a hat and t-shirt game or it’s a trash bag game. You’re cleaning out your locker with trash bags or you’re celebrating with some new hats and t-shirts.”
The worst “plane crash” Belichick experienced in New England was an easy one to identify.
“You guys beating us in the Philly Super Bowl in 2017,” he said. “That sucked.”
Long, who joined the Eagles that season after winning Super Bowl LI with the Patriots the year before, had his own take on that game.
“We expected to win that game,” he said. “But I’m not going to lie, dude. I was walking around the whole week asking guys, ‘How much do you think we can score?’ because, like, Tom [Brady] in the second half and [Rob Gronkowski] and those guys just started figuring us out. It just became like, ‘[Expletive], who can get a stop?’
Belichick's interview, however, wasn't all bad New England memories.
He lauded the work of former personnel director Ernie Adams, and added that despite the fact that Adams retired a few years ago, he still has a hand in some “projects” that only the head coach trusts him to execute.
“I used to have some great conversations with him … any position on the field, he was well-schooled in,” Belichick said. “He used to talk to me about quarterbacks, talk to me about specialists, talk to me about any position on the field. He was so smart but he broke it down very, very simply for me. I love Ernie — I love it when he comes back around here. He’s brilliant."
Long chided Belichick for his father’s longstanding fondness for Rutgers players, saying the Patriots’ head coach has a “Rutgers fetish.” Long also asked Belichick about his infamous tongue-wagging appearance from last season, one that was eventually turned into a GIF.
Long wrapped up with a series of rapid-fire questions, including who Belichick believes is the most underrated Patriot.
“I think Chung is underrated,” he said. “Guys like [Kyle] Van Noy. Guys like [Kyle] Dugger and Adrian Phillips last year. A critical piece of [our] secondary was Jason McCourty and his flexibility in the secondary and kind of being that next corner. Jon Jones is one of my favorite players,” Belichick added. “Undrafted kid, earned it all. Losing him in the Dallas game last year was a huge blow for us. I love Jon Jones. I’ll go with Jon Jones. He’s all business. He does the right thing all the time. Tough as nails. I love Jon Jones.”
More must-reads: