Over the years, it's become clear Bill Belichick isn't exactly a master with technology.
The 67-year-old has been seen on the sidelines a few times throwing the Microsoft tablets in frustration and it's been well-documented he prefers the paper print outs.
But, due to COVID-19 and being stuck at his Nantucket home, Belichick has been forced to use technology more and more, including video conferencing programs to connect with not only members of the organization, but also draft prospects.
Belichick said he's learning more and more each day and credited the IT department for helping everyone get what they need.
"I'd say master is probably not the right word, but I'm certainly better at it than I was four weeks ago," he said on a conference call Monday. "I mean, I didn't know what half of this was. But, at least now I can do more than I did, let's put it that way. So, I get a little better every day – learn a new button or learn a new thing to click on and see what trick that does. So, yeah, it's been very, very educational as a first floor, maybe even the basement – I've lived below the first floor. Yeah, it's been interesting to get educated on different technologies.
"Dan Famosi has done a tremendous job for us because he's had to navigate a lot of this. I mean, there's the coaching side of it, there's the scouting, there's the playbook and preparing for the offseason program side of it, meetings and so forth. Just to be able to deal with so many people that are – some are very proficient at some of the things we're doing, and others, like myself, are remedial. And so putting things together on a lot of different levels for multiple groups and interactions that cross over different connections and needs and 'can we do this with this type of meeting and this kind of conversation and can we do something else' – you know, some are one-on-ones, some it's five people, 10 people, 20 people, and we're preparing for larger groups than that. So, there really are a lot of moving parts, and Dan's done a tremendous job for us and tried to pull a lot of things together and remotely help out people like me that need a lot of help."
The coach did note that the team has been able to speak to the same number, if not more players than in past years because of the lack of travel. It's much easier to schedule a call opposed to setting up a visit at a pro day or top-30 visit, etc.
"It's a little bit different than the way we've done it in the past with the 30 visits and the pro days and so forth, but all the teams are working with the same constraints. So, in fact, we probably talk to as many if not more players than we have in the past when you're not traveling and you're just sitting at a desk or sitting in a room, wherever we are," Belichick said. "It's easier to make a lot of phone calls and get in contact with people rather than sometimes visit a place and just see the people that are there, even though those visits are valuable and you're able to get into more of an in-depth conversation and evaluation there.
"So, we certainly have logged a lot of phone time and FaceTime and whatever video conferencing and so forth. You know, again, I think for the most part, we've all adjusted to that and tried to take advantage of the opportunity that we have to do those things."
The Patriots have the No. 23 overall selection in the NFL Draft, which begins next Thursday.
