Bill Belichick Remains Focused As Ever, But Still Has Some Fun On Friday
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bill Belichick is one focused man heading into this weekend's AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots head coach is no stranger to conference title games, as Sunday's tilt with the Steelers will be the 11th of his career -- the most by any head coach in NFL history. He's not letting anything distract him as he gets his team ready for the Steelers.
Except for maybe the decor at Gillette.
In a brief moment of humor during his press conference on Friday, Belichick noticed that the Patriots and Steelers helmets, along with the Lamar Hunt trophy, that he shared the stage back with on Wednesday were no longer there.
"Where's all the stuff from Wednesday? Did they get thrown out?" Belichick joked.
But make no mistake, everything else about his media session on Friday followed the Belichick playbook. He's not even letting a mention from the soon-to-be-president get in the way.
Asked about Donald Trump's comments from Thursday night, when the then-president elect said Pats owner Robert Kraft had nothing to worry about with a great quarterback in Tom Brady and a great coach in Belichick, the hooded-one did not comment.
"We have a big game," he replied.
He also didn't seem too eager to give away any of his pregame routine, either. Asked if he does anything special upon his arrival at Gillette Stadium, Belichick shot it down with a stern no. When hit with a follow-up about any superstitions he may have, he said he has just one ritual.
"Yeah, I try and coach and play good. It goes a long way," Belichick shot back.
The coach didn't want to reflect on the historical nature of Sunday's showdown, but did go back in time briefly to discuss his first conference championship game. It was back in 1986-87 when he was a member of the New York Giants coaching staff, serving as Bill Parcells' defensive coordinator. The Giants beat Washington 17-0, and two weeks later they went on to beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXI. It was the third time that season the Giants and Redskins squared off, and as division rivals, Belichick called that "a different type of game."
His first conference title match as a head coach came with the Patriots in 2001-02, when New England beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh before winning the franchise's first Super Bowl title a week later. In order to fulfill their media requirements for that game, Belichick and some of his players had to leave Foxboro for Pittsburgh a day early.
It sounds like that's still a point of contention with Belichick.
"As the head coach in the Pittsburgh game, we had to do a media pregame press conference, or whatever, on Friday after practice. I mean, that was awesome," he said sarcastically.
Some things never change with Belichick, no matter how many conference championships he's coached.