| |
Bill Belichick joined The Big Show with Glenn Ordway, Fred Smerlas and
Michael Felger the day after the conclusion of the 2005 NFL Draft. The
following is a small portion of the 26-minute interview.
[On what goes into making the decision when it's time to pick a player]
Belichick: There are
always a lot of factors, it's never just one thing. But certainly the value on
the board, that's a big part of it. Last year when we drafted Benjamin Watson, I
guess a lot of people didn't think that we would take another tight end, or
could take another tight end, because we had just taken Graham a couple
years earlier in the first round and all that. But our decisions aren't based
that heavily on need. Certainly we take it into consideration like anything
else, but in the end we want to make sure we get a good value for the pick. I
think in any position other than quarterback—or
one of the special positions like punter or kicker or something like that, where
you can only have one guy playing at a time—having a couple players at one position, that are good, isn't really a bad thing.
You're trying to get depth on your team, and if you can create that then that's
a positive. We had, obviously, three number one picks on the defensive line.
It's just trying to do what's best for your football team, and sometimes that's
taking the best player even where there may be another position that you...if
the player was at equal grade, if he was there you might take him. But in this
situation where you get a guy that you like and you feel is good for your
team and your program—even if you have some
depth at that position—you might still go ahead and pick him.
* * *
Michael Felger: With losing both your coordinators, Charlie [Weis]
specifically, you have not filled—technically—the offensive coordinator position. People always
ask me who's going to call the plays. So I guess that's a question to you to
start out—who is going to call the plays for you guys?
Belichick: As you know, Michael, we really haven't had too much change in any of
the position coaches. Pete Mangurian for Jeff Davidson—but the
coordinators were not involved with the specific positions—our staff has
really stayed pretty consistent other than that. And we'll work through
those processes. But certainly I've been involved offensively with Tom
[Brady] and the quarterbacks the last four years, and I'll continue to do
that. So we can kind of make that a starting point if you want to. But as
usual I'll rely heavily on our assistant coaches and get a lot of input from
them, and we'll come up with a system that functions well and efficient for
us. How exactly that works out, that's a work in progress as well.
Felger: I know you called some plays when you were in Cleveland, but since
then I'm not sure that you've actually had that play-sheet and called the
plays. Is that something that you're sort of boning up on here in the
offseason?
Belichick: I'll put it this way, Michael: believe me, every play that happens out
there on the field—every play that's happened for the last five years—I've had the final say on. If I didn't like the play, or if I wanted a
different play, then I had the opportunity to change them. And the ones that
didn't work out, believe me, I've thought many times about whether or not I
should have done something differently, or called something differently.
When you're the head coach you're still accountable for the product that's
out there—whether you call it or whether you let somebody else call it.
That's the way it's been, that's the way it's always going to be. How that
finalizes itself this year compared to last year, obviously it will be
different. But I will still have to feel comfortable with the plays that we
run out there, regardless of how they go through. |
|
