Patriots HC Bill Belichick makes a bizarre reference while talking about his coaching philosophy
Bill Belichick is in the midst of what he hopes will end as a winning season for the New England Patriots. Through good times and bad, Belichick has been nothing if not consistent.
While speaking to the media, Belichick referenced one of the most consistently referred-to strategy books in history, albeit in an odd way.
Bill Belichick compares football to Sun Tzu
Speaking to the media, Belichick likened his job in game-planning to that of Sun Tzu, according to Alex Barth.
"If you want to go back far enough, look at Sun Tzu. Look at the great generals. Play to your strengths and attack your opponents weaknesses."
Of course, Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" is a book that acts as a treatise for strategies in war. At face value, the comparison of bloody war battles and a sport played once per week for fun and money is a stretch.
However, the great thinkers are those who can see similarities in two separate environments and extrapolate lessons from one to use in another correctly.
Asked about the genesis of his matchup approach to game planning, Bill Belichick says "if you want to go back far enough, look at Sun Tzu. Look at the great generals. Play to your strengths and attack your opponents weaknesses."
While some see both areas as distinct places with distinct ways of thought, others see how a thought process in one area can be used in another. Belichick sees Sun Tzu's thoughts on preparing for war as similar to a head coach preparing for a Sunday game.
Seemed like Bill Belichick ALMOST smiled after seeing that pick-six from J.C. Jackson. Almost. https://t.co/bLYOjpG32Y
Belichick employs a coaching style with traits used by Sun Tzu
Belichick's style of defense has always been to force opponents to beat him left-handed. In other words, Belichick will double-team the best weapons on an opposing team and will happily leave the lower players in single coverage.
This forces opponents to get big days out of guys who don't normally get big days. Moments often prove to be too big for the lower players, and the offense collapses.
It takes a robust team with numerous weapons to beat the Patriots on the defensive side of the ball. This is how the Patriots can maintain a strong defense without placing a lot of pressure on their own players.
Other teams may simply blitz often or run a safe zone scheme.The problem with these conventional defenses is that they require a lot of star power to be good.
If there is a hole in one spot on a defense, conventional defenses will get figured out and become more prone to losing games. With Belichick's scheme, he practically tells teams how to beat him.
However, the hard part is doing it. That is how Belichick attacks his opponents weaknesses, and that is why he compared his philosophy to Sun Tzu.
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