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New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has a deep respect for the game of football and he’s conscientious of the footprint he’ll leave behind. Belichick cares about the history of the game and is interested in staying on the cutting edge of the future.
Belichick’s had a relationship with the Chip Kellys and Kyle Shanahans of the world, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that he’s reached out to Los Angeles Rams head coach and wunderkind Sean McVay. But what is a surprise is how frequently he reaches out- almost weekly, according to McVay in this week’s FMIA.
“I’ve gotten to know Bill—we talked at the combine last year—so that’s been cool,” McVay relays to NBC Sports’ Peter King. “He was really great in the conversation we had, really enlightening. This is wild: This season, he has basically texted me after every one of our games. After we beat Minnesota in September, he texted, ‘Man, you guys are really explosive and impressive and fun to watch. Congratulations—keep it rolling.’ For him to even take the time to say congrats, it’s pretty cool. That’s one of the things I like about our business, our fraternity of coaches. As competitive as it is, guys find time to share when they can. I’m still young, still figuring it out. That stuff’s been really helpful to me.”
Belichick is 66 years old and the second-oldest head coach in the NFL (Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is 67 years old), while McVay just turned 33 years old on January 24th and is the youngest head coach in the league by a lot.
(Shanahan is the next-youngest at 39 years old. Projected Bengals head coach Zac Taylor is 35 years old and projected Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is 37 years old. Both will be coaching in the Super Bowl and can’t officially accept the job until after the game.)
McVay is the future and Belichick understands and appreciates that fact. And if Belichick can borrow some ideas from watching McVay’s play-calling, then, hey, why not?
McVay also spends time sharing his experience coaching against the Patriots in 2015 (he wanted to cheer for Tom Brady when the quarterback made his entrance) and what he learned from having joint practices with New England in 2014. It’s a good interview. Read it here.