Eddie White: It's Kravitz & Eddie and our favorite time of the day, Kravitz-free radio.
It's just me and not Kravitz. Joining us right now – I'll tell you, this is awesome. This guy doesn't do a lot of interviews and I really appreciate him doing this. He treated me so well my years at Reebok. He was a joy to work with. He's certainly a Hall of Famer – one of the best coaches to ever coach professional football. Joining us right now, one of the most popular guys in Indiana {Laughter}, the head coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick. Hey, Coach. How are you?
Bill Belichick: Good, Eddie. How are you doing?
White: I'm doing fine. Now, tell me the truth. When you come to Indianapolis for the Combine, you're probably welcomed by everybody in the restaurants. They probably give you a lot of warm hugs.
Belichick: You know, it's good there. It's not too bad at the Combine. But I think Sunday night I'm sure I'll get a really warm reception from the fans. They love me there. But hey, I just appreciate everything that you've done for me along the way. It's awesome to be able to catch up with you here today.
White: Well, I appreciate that. First of all, Happy Halloween.
Belichick: Same to you. What are you going to wear tonight?
White: I'm going to go as you. I'm going to wear a hoodie and I'm going to cut the sleeves. I'm going to go as you.
Belichick: I don't know if you'll get much candy out there.
White: {Laughing} I was going to say, I probably won't get much candy.
Belichick: {Laughter}
White: Hey, when you were a little kid, what was your favorite costume?
Belichick: I think I dressed up as Roger Staubach.
White: Is that right?
Belichick: Oh, yeah.
White: Oh my goodness. That's not a bad one.
Belichick: Got the Navy helmet, the #12 jersey, and…yeah.
White: That's a perfect lead to my question. This Patriots-Colts rivalry really has become one of the best, if not the best, in the league over the last few years. You guys are the two best teams in football, battling in the same conference. Does it remind you of the Navy-Army rivalry? And hey, did you notice I put Navy first?
Belichick: {Laughter} Well, it certainly is a good rivalry. For so long, they were in our division, but now that we're not in the same division it still feels like a division game, especially back in '06 when we played them twice. Same thing in '03 and '04 in the playoffs. So, it's a great competition between the two organizations. We've both had a lot of success and [have] battled each other. I think that there's a lot of respect both ways. We certainly have a lot of respect for the Colts and what they do and the way they go about their business. They're a tough, physical, hard-nosed football team that executes and plays the game very well. I think Tony [Dungy] and Bill Polian have done a great job with that organization. They've been able to sustain some guys that have turned over and so forth and kept it going. And Army-Navy, the difference in that game was that it was really a one-game season. You could beat Army, and even if you didn't have a good year you had a lot better feeling about the year if you won that one game. This is a big game but I think the overall picture is a little bit more into play than just that. That's really a one-game rivalry.
White: I know you grew up there, but I've traveled all over the country like you, and one of the most beautiful places in America is Annapolis.
Belichick: Well, thank you. Yes, that was a nice place to grow up.
White: I think it was awesome. A lot of Colts fans may not know this, but I've always said that the nicest guy that I think I've ever worked with in the NFL is a guy that you have a history with, and I want you to tell our listeners about it, Ted Marchibroda, the former Colts coach.
Belichick: Well, Ted really gave me my start in the National Football League. I had just come out of college and was trying to get a graduate assistant job and Lou Holtz offered me one down at North Carolina State, but that didn't work out with Title 9 – they had some cutbacks – so Ted took me on with the Colts. I broke down film and lived in the hotel with him. We rode back and forth to work every day and I got to spend a lot of time with Ted and really see how an organization is run. That year the Colts went from 2-12 the year before to 10-4, after we started off 1-4 in '75. So, it was a great year and I certainly learned an awful lot from Ted and from the way he did things. He gave me a lot of responsibility and it really put me on my way toward the start of an NFL coaching career.
White: He's such a nice man.
Belichick: Oh, he was awesome.
White: He's one of the nicest guys. He remembers every name. He'll meet you once, he remembers your name forever.
Belichick: {Chuckling} And he calls you the same thing, too. He still calls me Billy.
White: Is that right? He should work in sales or something like that. Hey, you'll see him on Sunday. He does like the pregame and the halftime shows and stuff.
Belichick: I always look forward to catching up with Ted. He's a great man.
White: Hey, another guy who's a good friend of yours is a guy I got to know, and I know he thinks the world of you, Coach Nick Saban. When he was in Miami – in fact, I blew him away. You know, he loves White Castle. I said, 'Coach, you know there's a White Castle a block away from the hotel here at the Combine.' He was like, 'What?' And he looked at his guy from the Dolphins and said, 'How come you didn't know that?' And all of a sudden I think I have a link with Coach because he loves White Castle. He's done a heck of a job at Alabama. I know you have a lot of respect for him, so it's no surprise to you. How has he been so successful in such short a time?
Belichick: Well, Nick's a great football coach. The four years we were together at the Cleveland Browns were outstanding great years for us. And certainly defensively, I learned an awful lot from working with Nick. And Nick did a good job, certainly, at Michigan State and then at LSU, so it's no surprise that he's doing well at Alabama. He knows the game inside and out. He's a very detailed coach, a great motivator. He can get his guys ready to play and he can recruit good football players and create and devise schemes that are tough. I remember a couple of years ago in Miami when he shut us out 21-0 down there. He's really a master as a coach, but certainly on the defensive side of the ball.
White: Coach, most people know you from this Hall of Fame career that you've had at New England, just the success has been unbelievable. But in Cleveland, you took over a team that was just dead, and you had Pittsburgh, you had Houston, you had these other teams that were super powers, and you really got things going in Cleveland. Of course, [former Browns owner Art] Modell moves the frickin' team, but I would say that – you've had a great career – some of your best coaching was back in Cleveland!
Belichick: We really feel proud about what we accomplished there. The team was 3-13 in 1990 and we turned that around. In 1994 we were 11-5 and won a playoff game against the Patriots and lost to the eventual AFC Champion Steelers. So, we played very competitively there, but in the end just came up a little bit short against Pittsburgh a couple times. Fortunately, when I came to New England we were able to come out on top on those championship games against Pittsburgh. {Laughter} That makes a big difference. But they were exciting years. They were the Browns. And a lot of people, such as Nick Saban and Pat Hill and Al Groh and Ozzie Newsome and Phil Savage and all sorts of people like that, have gone on to have very successful careers, Kirk Ferentz, with other teams, and Scott Pioli, gone on to do very well other teams or in various positions throughout the National Football League and in college football.
White: Coach, my grandfather was a professional basketball coach for like 50 years, so I love coaches. First of all, I think you guys are all nuts because your livelihood depends on these guys out on the field and stuff. But isn't it amazing Joe Paterno, a guy that just a couple years ago, remember they said he was too old, washed up? Boy, all of a sudden he got smart, didn't he?
Belichick: {Laughter} He's amazing. And Eddie Robinson, Bobby Bowden, those guys, they just keep on truckin'. Marv Levy. Yeah. I don't think you'll see me around at 80. You don't have to worry about that.
White: {Laughter} No?! What are you going to do? When you walk away, what the heck are you going to do?
Belichick: I don't know, but I'm not going to be breaking down film in 25 years, I'll tell you that.
White: {Laughter} One of the coolest things I saw, and I wished NFL Films – we see the film on everything nowadays – would have gotten a shot of this, but a couple years [ago] we were out at the Pro Bowl and I'm sitting there by the pool and I look over and you and Peyton Manning – I believe two of the greatest football minds the game's ever seen – are sitting there – I hope you remember this – you guys sat there what seemed like for hours. I mean, you guys had napkins in front of you and I'm thinking, this reminds me of like Boris Spassky against Bobby Fischer, two chess masters just comparing notes and talking. And what I saw from afar across the water was great respect of two guys who really loved the game and respect the game. Was I right?
Belichick: Oh, absolutely. As much as I hated to be in the Pro Bowl because Indianapolis beat us in the AFC championship game, it was a great experience to be able to go out there with all the outstanding players from the AFC and spend some time with them but not be under the pressure that usually you are during the season trying to get ready for a game and game-planning and all that. That afternoon Peyton and I did have a long conversation there by the pool. We had the salt shakers and the sugar packs and we were moving them around – who was doubling who and all that. But Peyton knows the game inside and out. I have a great deal of respect for him as a player and as a person, and as a strategist and the way he can maneuver his team on the field and see different looks and work on different weaknesses that the defense presents and so forth. It was, it was a lot of fun to spend some time with him. Then Tony Romo came over and then the three of us were talking, so it was good. Of course, Peyton had the last laugh that year because they nailed us in the championship game. But, we've had great battles through the year coaching against them and playing against his outstanding teams there at Indianapolis. I have a great deal of respect for not only Peyton but their entire football team – their offense and Tony and what they do, and Tom Moore.
White: I remember asking Peyton about that. We had a Reebok function like a month later and I said, 'I saw you sitting there with the coach.' And you know what he said? He said, 'I'd love to play for that guy.' And it was genuine. I mean, he really respected you. Hey, I'm a nobody. I'm an old PR guy…
Belichick: Look, I had a chance to coach him for one game. He played for me for one game. So, that Pro Bowl was a lot of fun, it really was. And I'm glad we had that opportunity.
White: That was fun. Hey Coach, I think this is cool. When somebody writes a book about somebody, that's pretty neat. You had one of the greatest authors in the history of the world write a book about you, The Education of A Coach by David Halberstam. What was that like?
Belichick: It was a lot of fun. David was a very interesting man. He had a tremendous amount of experiences, both in sports but politically and socially, the Vietnam War, Korean War, over in Iraq and so forth. There really wasn't anything that you couldn't talk to David about that he didn't know a lot about. He was just a brilliant man and brilliant author, and it certainly was a great opportunity for me to be able to have that friendship and association and have him want to write something about me. I didn't really think there was that much to write about but he seemed pretty interested in it. I appreciate the time and the effort he took to put into the book and I thought it came out well.
White: I thought it was a great book. I enjoyed it and all I could think about was sometimes you get a no-name author that does a book about a great subject. Here, he's doing a book about a great subject, you, and on the reverse, you get information from him. That would be one of those guys that you'd love to have dinner with. We miss him. I mean, we miss him. He was a great writer. I know you're busy. I really appreciate you giving us some time here. The last question: I know you and Jon Bon Jovi are tight and all that stuff – your favorite Jon Bon Jovi song?
Belichick: It's got to be 'Bounce.'
White: Why 'Bounce?'
Belichick: Well, he thought of me when he wrote that song, so I take that as a great compliment, and really the highest compliment. I love music and I love Bon Jovi's music, and for him to even have me as part of the song or kind of the theme of the song or whatever it was, what an honor.
White: That's pretty cool. You've got Super Bowl championships, you've had a book written about you, and Jon Bon Jovi writes a song about you. You've been blessed.
Belichick: {Laughs} Well, I'm fortunate. I have some good friends. I really do.
White: And the people in Indiana still think you're like Darth Vader in a hoodie or something like that. I'm trying to tell them, the guy's a good guy!
Belichick: {Laughs} Well, we know how it is. When you go into those opposing stadiums and they give you a real warm welcome and they're really happy to see you, then they probably don't respect you too much, and that's not good. So it's actually kind of inspiring to get the kind of negative reaction that we get when we come in there, just like when the Colts come to Foxboro, our fans greet them the same way.
White: {Laughs} Oh, yeah.
Belichick: So, I think that's really a sign of respect.
White: Hey, you've done a heck of a job this year, Coach, [at] 5-2. You lose your quarterback, you lose your running back, you lose Rodney Harrison, and what do you do, you just keep on winning. I appreciate your time, I really do, my man. And I'll see you on Sunday.
Belichick: Alright. Sounds good, Eddie. Thank you. It was good to catch up with you.
White: Alright, Coach. You take care.
Belichick: OK. Bye.
White: Coach Bill Belichick, the head coach of the New England Patriots. Folks, I know a lot of you Colts fans don't like him, you don't like the team, trust me, I know the guy. You would want your son to play for him. He's a winner, he's a solid guy and I really appreciate him coming on this show. You know, sometimes we can't even get some of the local sports legends in this town to come on the show because they're busy or you have to pay them or something like that. But how about that? A guy that doesn't do bobo. This guy doesn't do Mike & Mike, he doesn't do national radio, he comes on old Kravitz & Eddie. Isn't that unbelievable? I hope I tried to make him real for you. What the heck?
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