Bill Belichick’s short memory is one of his best qualities as the head coach of the Patriots. Whether he wins or loses, the past is history, and his mind is always on the upcoming task.
Belichick is unaffected by the fact that he and Tom Brady recently won their seventh Super Bowl together, setting a record, or that the team only received their Super Bowl LI rings on Friday night. The 2016 season is in the past, and the Patriots are fully focused on 2017, as he stated on Tuesday following Patriots OTAs at Gillette Stadium.
“It was a great night, but, really, we need to move on to 2017,” Belichick stated. We’ve had enough parades, enough parties, enough of everything, you know. None of us on this ’17 team have taken any action as of yet. It’s imperative that we give our work this year our full attention.
“There have been a lot of great moments in the past, which is great, but that isn’t going to help us this year.”
Another classic Belichickian response, this one from the head coach expressed how he’s always trying to improve, even with the Super Bowl champions loaded and the overwhelming favorites to repeat as champions in February.
When asked how he evaluates the team following OTAs, Belichick responded, “We’ve got a long way to go.” “There are numerous areas in which we need to improve as coaches, performers, and individuals. There is still a long way to go.
In a recent list of the top 25 NFL coaches ever compiled by Mike Tanier of Bleacher Report, Belichick came in first place. Among the traits that won him that position were his unwavering refusal to dwell on the past, unwavering desire for improvement, and laser-like focus on the here and now.
