Bill Belichick Might've Learned Something From This Story...

Archie Carpenter. Shutterstock Images.

About 40-odd years ago, my good friend Doogie called to tell me he was coaching the Sharon Red Devils, a Pop Warner football team he and I both played on when we were kids, and he wanted me to be his assistant. I felt honored that he thought highly enough of me to ask. 

Both of us played Pop Warner for Jack Cosgrove, and in addition to being South Shore Champions two years in a row ('68-'69), we experienced incredible personal growth and had a great time being a member of Jack's team. Getting a chance to coach in his footsteps was a rare privilege. Of course, I accepted…

I showed up at the Ames Street Playground, the same place we practiced and played games at when we were kids, so it felt great to be back there and on the coaching side of things. As soon as I arrived, Doogie handed me a whistle, and immediately after I dropped the string over my head, it was official: I was a football coach!

I was pumped to motivate these kids, the same way Jack and his coaching staff motivated me and Doogie back in the day. 

Here's a pic of the Sharon Red Devils practicing in '69. I'm looking at the camera, and Doogie is #63, right behind me. Frankie Salemme Jr. is sitting to my right…

Once Doogie and I put the pads on the sleds and got out the tackling dummies, I was raring to go.

The kids didn't share in my excitement. In fact, they appeared uninspired by my enthusiasm, and when they hit the sleds with very little effort, I stopped 'em and decided to demonstrate, thinking that if they saw me hitting with some authority, they'd get the idea. It didn't work. These kids just weren't into it.

By the second practice, I tried toning down my enthusiasm a bit, and after a little huddle up where we discussed the importance of practice and that "the way you practice is the way you'll play," I thought they got it. They didn't.

I was giving up a lot of my time to coach, time I really didn't have, and after two weeks, nothing changed. These kids remained uninspired and, in my opinion, didn't have what it takes to be football players.

I went to Doogie's house and told him I was stepping down, that the kids didn't really want to practice, and that as hard as I tried to connect with them, it wasn't happening. I offered to stick around until he found my replacement, but he said he could get someone right away and not to worry. I gave back the whistle…

A few months later, after the season ended, I called Doogie and asked, "How'd those prima donnas make out?" He paused and then said, "They were undefeated and won the championship…" I couldn't believe it. I asked him if they came around and started practicing harder, and he said, "Nope. Uninspired to practice, but they were great athletes and game day players, Vin. They showed up to play when it counted…" Obviously, Doogie knew how to handle these kids and was the perfect coach for this team.

All I could do was scratch my head… And then it hit me. These kids were a new breed of football player, and they had to be treated differently than we were 10 years ago. The experience taught me a great lesson. Know your players and coach them accordingly. Although I opted out, it was an experience I learned a great deal from.

I believe NFL coaches are currently experiencing something very similar. There's a new breed of football player in the NFL, and they want to connect with their head coach, have an honest and open relationship, and have fun playing football. The new breed of coach gets it; the old-school guys, not so much.

Kevin C. Cox. Getty Images.

Unfortunately, great coaches like Bill Belichick are unwilling to change, and the majority of modern athletes don't respond as well to old-school coaching. 

Some say it was "All Brady," while others contend it was "poor drafting and free agent signings." Still, others blame Belichick's decline on the personnel he surrounded himself with and demanding total control over all football operations. They're all good reasons, but in my opinion, Belichick's decline happened because he failed to consider the player's role in coaching.

Belichick was unwilling to make changes to his approach and develop better relationships with his young players, and as a result, he was unable to get the most out of them, and it didn't go unnoticed. 

It's not surprising, at least not to me, that Belichick didn't get any coaching opportunities for 2024…