Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has a well-documented history of disdain when it comes to advanced NFL analytics. And during this year’s General Manager Forum on Tuesday, the New England coaching legend perpetuated that reputation.
“I’d prefer good players, good fundamentals and good execution,” Belichick said when asked about analytics, per D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Another premier NFL coach, Andy Reid, also reportedly expressed his dislike of analytics.
#Falcons take part in GM forum, QB summit — #Patriots Bill Belichick and #Chiefs Andy Reid are not fans of analytics. “I’d prefer good players, good fundamentals and good execution,” Belichick said. https://t.co/8ofx1y4qol pic.twitter.com/KIEWAdnS5p
— D. Orlando Ledbetter (@DOrlandoAJC) June 22, 2021
Belichick has condemned analytics on at least two other occasions.
“I’ve never looked at one,” Belichick said in 2019 when asked about analytics websites, per NBC’s Pro Football Talk. “I don’t even care to look at one. I don’t care what they say.”
The all-time great coach expanded on this thought a few years prior, right before his team took on the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.
“You could take those advanced websites and metric them wherever you want,” Belichick said. “I don’t know. I have no idea. I’ve never looked at one. I don’t even care to look at one. I don’t care what they say. . . . . All the metric pages and all of that, I mean I have no idea. You’d need to ask that to a smarter coach than me.”
You’d be hard pressed to find a smarter coach than Belichick — but you’d be even more hard pressed to find one more secretive.
Even if the eight-time Super Bowl champion was taking a deep dive into advanced analytics, very few people would know about it.
While Belichick has continually denied an analytical approach, his coaching method most likely involves a combination of natural instinct and numbers-based strategy.
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