Books: "The Art of Winning" By Bill Belichick

 

The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football

By Bill Belichick

Avid Reader Press/Simon & Schuster; hardcover, 304 pages; $35.00; available today, Tuesday, May 6th

Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest football coach of all time, after he led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships. He also won two championships with the Giants in 1986 and 1990, giving him an unprecedented eight rings overall, which he displays in his dust jacket cover photo.

Belichick coached the Patriots in 24 years, up until the 2023 season, which left last year as the first time he was not on a football sideline. In addition to all the TV appearances he did throughout the season, he also made the most of it by writing this book, which is not only about his experiences, but a manual for success that it seems like he's wanted to write for awhile.

"I was born into football," Belichick writes. "For years my father, Steve Belichick, was an assistant coach at the Naval Academy, and by all accounts, he was the best game scout anyone had ever seen. I grew up immersed in preparation as I watched my father scout opponents. I learned how to watch a game, how to break down film, how to find keys and tips for players to use in the game, and how to gain an advantage by studying opponents' tendencies. I still use these techniques 

"For the last half century, I have been a coach. I have never stopped learning about the game and learning about competition. I have learned about what makes human beings excel and what makes human beings want to excel. I have led men through months of mental and physical preparation, and then into months of the most intense athletic competition in the history of the world. The game of football combines hand-to-hand combat with circus-like acrobatics, and coaching the game demands complex strategic planning - and success in the game requires the highest commitment from its players, coaches, and staff.

"As I began to succeed as a coach, first in New York and then in New England, I wanted to establish in my mind a series of principles, rules of thumb, habits, and philosophies that I understood to be fundamental to our teams' successes. When we won, I kept what worked. When we lost, I threw out what hadn't. Over time, these ideas coalesced into a single, coherent program."

Interestingly enough, Belichick also was inspired by Ray Dalio, who founded the hedge fund Bridgewater and authored the book Principles, and they had the chance to share their ideas over the years. Belichick also consulted with former General Electric CEO Jack Welch, and his wife Suzy, over the years, which gave him a wealth of knowledge on what the other side, basically management, in business deals is thinking.

The book is centered around principles because they are pillars that build a foundation for success. A lot of these were honed by observing his father at Army, starting with the fact that any contribution to the team winning was important; hard work and conditioning took precedence; discipline on the football field ran parallel to winning; and that everyone was replaceable, which meant "everyone had be ready to do their job." That's fitting he wrote that because "do your job was the mantra his Patriots adopted, as well as by his close friend, Nick Saban, arguably the greatest college football coach, at Alabama.

Another credo, and this is what comes across throughout the book in Belichick's deep dives on game preparation, watching tape, or practices, is "My philosophy is what led to winning - winning didn't develop into a philosophy."

One player who matched Belichick in that department is no surprise, his quarterback in New England, Tom Brady, who "was hard to coach because he was so well prepared," and he was also "the most dependable player I have coached."

The thing that set Brady apart was that his success fueled him to keep wanting to win, and sustained his performance through a career that, Belichick said, and this is where the business influence comes in, "was not a straight line but a vector that pointed upward until it ended past the point of all measurement."

The first game Belichick discusses in-depth is Super Bowl XXXXVI, when his Patriots, led by Brady in his first year as his starting QB, upset the heavily-favored St. Louis Rams in New Orleans. 

Belichick writes about how they had lost to St. Louis in the regular season partly because he did not do his job, so this time he was ready for them. Instead of attempting to disrupt quarterback Kurt Warner, they went after what he called the linchpin of the Rams' offense, running back Marshall Faulk. He dusted off a defense he tried in his time with the Giants, where they loaded up the secondary, putting anywhere from five to seven players in the backfield. This pressure also led to disrupting wide receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, taking more weapons away.

The years after also lend to interesting analysis, as the Patriots missed the playoffs in 2002, and then roared back to win the Super Bowl in 2003, when they went 17-2 overall. 

There is a lot in this book about motivation, especially when dealing with a successful group, and Belichick used a preseason game in August 2004 in Cincinnati to illustrate that point. He hated the attitude of the team, the way they were playing, and instead of pulling his starters early, as is custom, he left them out there possibly the longest he ever did in a game. It obviously worked, as New England went on to win their second straight Super Bowl and three in four years.

The current quarterback Belichick sees as being most like Brady is really not a surprise, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. It's not for the obvious reasons, that he already has won three rings and been in five Super Bowls in the past six seasons, but a quality he identified in Brady.

Belichick saw how Mahomes reacted to a win early last season, in which Kansas City narrowly beat Atlanta to improve to 3-0, by saying "I feel like I haven't played very well, and that's not a stats thing. I just feel like I'm missing opportunities whenever they're out there and not throwing the ball in the exact spot I want it to be at."

"That kind of comment is music to my ears," Belichick writes. "Can't get enough of it. I want to make that sound bite my cell phone ringtone." He also called it "an example of elite leadership," and likened it to when Brady would say they should have put up 45 points after a 28-10 win.

For New York football fans, there is plenty on his time with the Giants, especially on his guys on defense, Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks, as well as another favorite, Mark Bavaro. 

This book should be a must-read for all football fans, or people who want to study success. It will only make you appreciate Belichick and his championship teams more.