If you have time to read one article today, I highly recommend you check out this article from our friend Kevin Duffy over at MassLive where he speaks with a lot of Bill Belichick’s former assistants to learn what it’s like to interview for a job with the greatest head coach in the history of the NFL.
"The 20/20 deal," Patriots tight ends coach Brian Daboll described the role. "Twenty hours a day for 20 grand a year. And it wasn't exactly 20 [grand] yet."
Duffy notes that the Patriots are a unique franchise in how well they promote talent from within. Only the Chiefs with Andy Reid are able to compare with Belichick’s ability to groom talent in case coordinators head off to take head coaching jobs elsewhere. Coaches want to work for the Patriots because they know how well-prepared they’ll be from a football perspective to thrive in any circumstance (head coaching personality traits are apparently not a part of the crash course).
“Entry-level coaching assistants are responsible for weekly breakdowns of the upcoming opponent, handed in to Belichick more than a week in advance of the game so he can use them as reference points as he conceives a strategy. Offensive assistants focus on the opponent's defense. Defensive assistants focus on the offense. Both focus on details so insignificant that you'd think Belichick was playing a prank on these kids.
“Phil Savage, who worked as a coaching assistant in Cleveland under Belichick, remembers logging the direction in which the quarterback turned his head prior to each snap.”
Each candidate goes through a full 8-10 hour interview process before Belichick and the other coaches are able to make their decision. I recommend reading this article so you can see how many hoops the young assistants have to go through before being considered a positional coach.