Steve Belichick admitted that he didn't know what he was doing when Bill Belichick made him safeties coach

BOSTON -- If you've ever heard Steve Belichick speak publicly, then you know he sounds like a carbon copy of his father. It's a pretty straightforward, somewhat monotone delivery that's been made famous by Bill Belichick for decades, and the similarity from Steve -- whether intentional or just ... natural -- is uncanny.

Yet just about everyone who's played for Bill Belichick has learned that he's a different person behind closed doors, when the microphones of the media aren't being held up to capture his every word. And a new story about Steve Belichick might indicate that he's like his father in that sense, too.

That story comes from Devin McCourty, who's on a bit of a media tour this week while celebrating his retirement. Appearing on the Green Light podcast with his former teammate Chris Long, McCourty shared a tale from 2016, when Steve was named safeties coach after spending four years as a lower level defensive assistant.

"The one thing that I've loved about Steve is his honesty. I remember Steve takes over, Pat Graham left, [Brian Flores] is moving to linebackers coach, and Steve said Bill tells him two weeks before the offseason program starts that he's going to be the safeties coach," McCourty shared, as transcribed by NESN's Zack Cox. "Now he's walking in the room, it's me, Pat Chung, Duron Harmon, Nate Ebner. We've got all these veterans -- I'm older than Steve, Pat's older than Steve, [Steve] played with Duron [at Rutgers] and he's probably the same age as Nate -- and he walks in and goes, 'Yo, I'm going to be honest with y'all. I don't know what the F I'm doing right now. My dad told me two weeks ago that I was even going to have this job.' And now I'm just sitting here like, 'I don't know, what's next?' And that first year, we all just worked together."

McCourty, who carried himself like a veteran since his arrival as a rookie, said that the safeties room had enough experience and knowledge to help the younger Belichick along. And that blunt honesty earned the rising coach respect among the players.

"Now when I look at him, I think his growth has come because of the honesty, not coming in saying, 'My dad is Bill Belichick. I was born to coach. I'm going to do this,' No, he came in and was like, I'm going to learn from some veterans that I've got in this room, take advantage of that opportunity that I get, and I'm going to grow as a coach," McCourty said.

Steve Belichick has certainly grown since then, as he took on the role of secondary coach in 2019 while becoming the unnamed defensive play caller over the past two seasons.