Patriots Blog: The Anatomy Of A Play
BOSTON (CBS) - New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been called the best coach in the NFL by his peers.
So it was something to hear him describe a play and how he gets it installed to the players. The detailed process was something the players talk about all the time.
He gave us a look into that world this week.
"Anytime we install a play, put in a kickoff return, running play, blitz or something, we usually show examples of that so that the new players sort of understand how that works and that they have the general concept of the play," Belichick began.
"I think the best way to learn is to understand what all 11 people are doing. If you just try to memorize your assignment on every play then ultimately - if you don't know what's going on around you - you end up making decisions that impact the players around you, and if you really had an understanding of what the whole concept was, it's probably less likely that would happen."
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That is where the term "do your job" comes from. If you are doing your job, then there is no reason to freelance. Everything should work together.
Bill went on, "We try to teach the concept of the play. We show the play usually in multiple examples because of different things that can happen on the play, and it refreshes the veteran players who have done the play or maybe were even in the play when it was run before."
"But it also serves as a visual illustration to new players as opposed to X's and O's in a diagram – 'Here's actually the play against whatever its being shown against, and this is how it works or this is one of the problems we'll have to adjust to with it and this is how we will handle it or whatever.'"
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A lot to take in for any player, especially a rookie. But once you grasp this, taking the knowledge on to the field is the next step.
