Bill Belichick Has Strong Words for Popular NFL Trend

The New England Patriots won six Super Bowls thanks to their brilliant head coach. Bill Belichick is a man of a few words who does his job really well, and no, he is not into the latest NFL trend.

NFL coaches and general managers lean on analytics when building strong teams and lineups. Well, Belichick is not one of them. He is not someone who puts weight on analytics. We know where he stands in the NFL. The man has his principles and he is not into analytics.

When asked about analytics in the NFL, Belichick said, “I’d prefer good players, good fundamentals, and good execution.”

We are not even surprised.

Bill Belichick won’t follow the NFL trend

In 2019, CLNS’ Evan Lazar discussed the role of analytics in the coach’s decision on important fourth-down play. The Patriots head coach said it was “less than zero.”

Belichick and his team finished the 2020 NFL season with a 7-9 record. Players made some mistakes and 2020 was a bad season for the team. Critics used this as a perfect material to trash the Patriots head coach and the way he ignores analytics.

Sam Fortier from The Washington Post discussed the “watershed year” in 2019. The San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens sat on top of the NFC and AFC respectively. Both teams welcomed advanced statistics and the result is here.

Some would say the NFL is a copycat league. Well, history has so much to say about this. When teams won relying on the West Coast offense, other teams copied it. Bill Parcells’ 3-4 defenses boost the game on this side of the ball, and we noticed a similar shift.

Analytics seems to have the same impact. Will Belichick embrace this? Maybe he will stick to his formula and even prove that it’s better.

The Patriots spent a lot of money in the offseason to build a strong team. NFL analysts took notice of this and pretty much everyone is watching the team now. Belichick built an excellent team and the best has yet to come. Let’s see what happens next on the field.