Chapter 8 Summary

Belichick held a squad meeting the following Monday after the Jets game. It was an end of the season meeting and there was a feeling that many players and staff would not be coming back next season. Everyone was vulnerable. One of the talent scouts described the stress of always having to have potential talent waiting in the wings to replace the current talent. Belichick made no qualms about how disappointed he was in the just-concluded season. He didn't want to hear compliments about what had worked; he wanted to overhaul the team to make it work better. Belichick had all of his coaches review ten games and then he critiqued their evaluations.

After a short trip away with his family, Coach Belichick returned for a brutal team evaluation meeting. All players were up for discussion. Strengths and weaknesses were noted; as well...