Bill Belichick Really -- Really -- Respects Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll
CHANDLER, Ariz. (CBS) -- If the Seattle Seahawks are looking for bulletin board material, they're not going to get it from Bill Belichick.
The Patriots head coach, already having dealt with a week's worth of scrutiny in the national media, took several minutes on Monday to praise every single element of the Seahawks as a football team. Seriously -- about the only thing Belichick failed to mention about the Seahawks is that they're great at tying their shoes, they always say please and thank you, and their helmets have the perfect amount of shine.
Here's a full transcript of everything Belichick had to say about the Seahawks -- praise which came when the coach was asked what he's doing to prepare for Seattle.
"Well, everything. I mean, Seattle's a great football team. They're strong in all three phases of the game. Everybody talks about their offense and their defense, which are outstanding, [but] I don't think they get enough credit for how good they are in the kicking game. I think we saw that last week against Green Bay, with the fake field goal and how well-executed that was, and the onside kick. Without those two plays, you know, I don't know. But they made 'em, and they have a good kicking game."
"Offensively, they have a lot of great players, and of course it starts with [Marshawn] Lynch and [Russell] Wilson. Can't say enough about those guys. Lynch is a tremendous back, best back we've faced. He does everything well, he's got great balance, great power, vision, instincts, he's great in the open field, he gets tough yards around the goal line, third down."
"Wilson's just ... he's a winner. He plays great in the fourth quarter, throws the ball accurately, especially the deep balls. He's a threat to run and extend plays or just gain yards as part of their read option and bootleg offense."
"They've got a veteran offensive line. They're very good, and they're very good when they have to be."
"Defensively, they're great across the board, they're well-coached, they have a great defensive front, they put a lot of pressure on the offense, both in the running game and the passing game. They get a lot of negative plays. They play fast and athletic at linebacker, they have an excellent secondary. Those guys can cover and they're good tacklers. [Kam] Chancellor and [Earl] Thomas are as good safeties as we play against all year. Corners, [Richard] Sherman, [Jeremy] Lane, [Byron] Maxwell, whoever they use back there, it's a strong secondary. They're very fast at the linebacker position, with [K.J.] Wright, [Bobby] Wagner, [Bruce] Irvin, if you want to call him a linebacker, [Cliff] Avril. It's a very fast, athletic group. When you see plays open up, they don't stay open very long. They close, and it ends up being a two or three-yard gain."
"They tackle well, they don't turn the ball over, but they turn it over on defense. So we'll be working on all of those things. They're a really good football team in every phase of the game, from the line of scrimmage to all the skill players, and in all three areas -- offense, defense and special teams. And as I said before, they're very well-coached. I can't ... there's no way I could ... I mean, I could go on and on and on about the coaching, the technique, the discipline, the execution, the awareness that they play situationally, how smart they play, as well as how fundamentally sound they are. This is a real, real good football team."
Well. I'd say!
Bill wasn't done, either. He had all of this to say about Pete Carroll:
"There's no way that I could, in a brief amount of time, express the amount of admiration and respect that I have for that organization, in particular Pete Carroll. I think that Pete's one of the great coaches in my time. He and I came up together, we're in the same vintage and had similar experiences as coordinators and head coaches at various places along the way. I never worked with Pete, of course I followed him in New England, and what he's done at USC and now in his five years with Seattle is beyond impressive. I tried to study him closely and learn from many of the things that he and his organization have done. I've watched him build that organization very carefully. And although we haven't competed directly with them since early in 2012, it's very obvious to me now why they were world champions last year and why they're here again this year."
"They have an outstanding organization, they're very well-coached, they have a lot of great players, they're very disciplined, they're tough, they play very consistently, they're a great fourth-quarter football team. So in short, they do everything well, most all the time."
"We're going to have to absolutely play our very best game of the season to compete with them, and again there's no way that I could express how much respect Ihave for that organization and for Pete and for the job that he's done. I've tried to learn a lot from watching and studying and observing many things about that organization and the way that he coaches a team, and I really feel like it's an honor to compete with the Seattle Seahawks, with Coach Carroll and his outstanding staff this weekend. We know it's going to be a great matchup, we look forward to it, we know it's going to be tough."
So there you have it, folks. Bill Belichick: World's Biggest Seahawks Fan.
Read more from Michael Hurley by clicking here. You can email him or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.