The captain of “VIII Rings” is guiding the Patriots through the most unique and maybe most challenging summer in NFL history.
Bill Belichick has been through a lot in his career, but his 45 previous seasons on an NFL sideline have not exactly prepared him for 2020, a year that’s left many a man and woman overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic and the new world in which we live.
Though this year, this offseason and this training camp are unlike any other, there is probably no man better equipped through a combination of past experiences and natural temperament to lead an NFL team.
Belichick recently described the world of his rookie players in a way that probably, at least on some level, might accurately assess the way all NFL players are feeling these days.
“They’re in deep water and turbulent water and it’s going to get rougher,” Belichick said. “They’re really all in the same boat.”
Hell, that’s probably true of most of us, trying to do our jobs, lead our families and trudge on in a world that’s changed in unfathomable ways since the new year began. Remember when the biggest issues facing Patriot Nation was the future at the quarterback position? Those were the days.
Now, every step of the way is a question.
Football players are creatures of habit, ritual and repetition. That born-and-bred mindset and lifestyle was destroyed by the coronavirus this offseason.
There were no OTAs, passing camps, mini-camp or any preparation of any kind beyond a few virtual meetings.
Opt-outs and COVID-19 testing replaced conditioning runs.
The opening of training camp brought the many phases of the usual months-long offseason program condensed into a couple weeks.
Things won’t get any more “normal” moving forward toward the 2020 regular season opener against the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.
No joint practices. No preseason games.
Just limited training camp practices, limited time in pads and limited preparations for a Patriots team that’s built its dynastic reputation on being more prepared than its opponent far more often than not for two decades.
You’d think Belichick, who puts a premium on preparation, might be concerned about the uncharted waters of this unique summer. You’d be wrong. Because if he is, he’s not shown it.
Rather, Belichick has been his pragmatic, matter-of-fact self.
He’s emphasized that though this summer is a unique NFL training camp environment, it’s not much different than the run-up to the regular season that every college program in America goes through each season. His pals like Nick Saban, Kirk Ferentz and Chip Kelly bring together a squad in August, practice behind the scenes and then unveil the troops in the regular season opener a month or so later.
So while this schedule is foreign to the pros, Belichick’s coaching fraternity bros have been doing it successfully for years. He and his staff have leaned on that direct pipeline of information to some of the most successful college coaches in the country this summer as they’ve planned their own preparations.
Belichick also has the experience of the 2011 NFL lockout to lean back on. That was another year with essentially no offseason of work prior to coming together for training camp. For the record, the 2011 Patriots came together quickly and successfully enough to go on a run to the Super Bowl.
In a video conference this week, Belichick noted that while the NFL opener was less than a month away, the sky-is-falling, not-enough-time perceptions surrounding NFL teams’ preparations might not exactly be accurate.
“We’ve got a decent amount of time here to work with,” Belichick said casually Aug. 19.
With no preseason games to worry about or joint practices to plan, Belichick is in full control of that time and those preparations.
Is it different this summer?
Sure.
Is it ideal?
Probably not.
But as a wise man said more than once, it is what it is.
Former Patriots legendary offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia was fond of saying, “Don’t tell me how rough the water is, just put the boat in.”
That’s Belichick’s reality. Use the time you have. Worry about what you can control. Prepare your team the best you can. It’s a familiar approach to an unfamiliar world.
“We’re being productive, we’re using the time that we have to definitely make strides, but there are some things we can’t do. But we’re not going to focus on those,” Belichick said earlier this month. “We’re going to look to the things we can do and make the most out of those. I think the players, the coaches and the entire organization has done a good job of that.”
There is no better coach with no more focused an approach to the task at hand to achieve such a goal.
Belichick has been through it all. But not this.
And yet it doesn’t matter.
While the leaders of some teams may look back at the offseason of the coronavirus and summer of 2020 with regret, it’s a virtual certainty that Belichick will not be one of those men.
“This is just football, that’s all. I don’t really see it any differently,” Belichick declared recently, in a way only he could.
And no one coaches football and prepares football teams better than Belichick.
Even, and maybe especially, in a pandemic.
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