Bill Belichick likes big butts, and he cannot lie.
At a recent coaching clinic, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart revealed some lessons he’s learned about scouting football players over the years. During his presentation, he harkened back to his experience at the 2006 NFL Combine, when he was on the Dolphins’ staff as an assistant to Nick Saban.
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Smart said he followed Saban around the facility, and they eventually linked up with Bill Belichick near the 40-yard dash. But their position seemed strange: the two legendary coaches were standing behind the players, and not at the finish line.
But it was exactly the view they wanted.
“They get where the 40-yard dash — ya’ll seen those guys with the tights on? — they got behind ‘em,” he said. “I was like, ‘Why are we here? We can’t time the finish.’ He was like, ‘No, Bill likes to look and see how big their ass is when they into their 40-yard stance, because he wants to sign the biggest ass defensive lineman he can sign. He said, because those backers want to line up behind these guys, and they want to be protected by them.”
In other words, when Belichick is looking at defensive lineman, he wants to see what they’re carrying in their trunks.
Why? As Smart explained, Belichick believes that linebackers can more easily hide behind linemen with huge butts, freeing them up to make more plays.
It’s hard to argue with Belichick’s results. The Patriots have drafted some excellent big defensive linemen, including Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren and Christian Barmore.
There have also been busts, such as Malcolm Brown and Dominique Easley. But as anybody will tell you, evaluating butts is a very subjective game.