How Belichick Actually Makes Decisions (It’s Not What You Think)

KEYPOINTS

• 01

  Four rules on the way in: do your job, work hard, be attentive, put the team first.

  Every Patriots employee passed this sign on the way in, and it applied the same on a day in March or on AFC Championship day. Each job mattered, from players to staff. Paying attention to people who can teach you, then doing the work to change, is the formula for getting better. And the question is always what the team needs to win and what you can contribute.

• 02

  Busy isn't hard work — 'eyewash' is a day off.

  A player can suit up, run around, break a sweat, shower and say he practised. If he accomplished nothing, Belichick counts it as a day off. 'No days off' means you come to work and you work: be productive, hit the day's goals, and build on them tomorrow.

• 03

  Work ethic stacked over time levels out talent.

  Talent gets you through high school and maybe college. In the NFL the field levels out, and only a few are gifted enough to coast. Brady was a fourth-string rookie — 'no team keeps four quarterbacks.' Stephen Neal never played high school or college football; the college wrestler started at guard for seven years. Julian Edelman, a college quarterback, became an elite receiver and punt returner. Belichick mentions a can't-miss running back who managed barely 100 career yards.

• 04

  You cannot win until you keep from losing.

  Like Charlie Munger's inversion, first remove the self-inflicted damage: pre-snap penalties (false starts, too many men on the field), post-whistle fouls like taunting, and turnovers from botched snaps. Off the field it includes drug suspensions, hamstrings pulled from poor hydration, and academic ineligibility. 'That's not Buffalo. That's us.' More NFL games are lost than won. Then make the ordinary plays you're supposed to make before chasing spectacular ones.

• 05

  The price of success is paid in advance.

  You can't know whether your preparation is enough, and you don't know how hard the other guy is working. 'I wish I'd studied more' comes too late. Watch for the tendency to let up — 'I watched some film, did some extra sprints' — and ask if it's really enough, short of diminishing returns. The pain of regret outlasts the pain of preparation.

• 06

  A 24-hour rule, then move on.

  Win, lose or draw, spend a day on what went well, what didn't and what coaching errors were made. Some lessons only matter weeks later, against the next scrambling quarterback. After a blowout in Kansas City, 'on to Cincinnati' meant don't let one bad game become two, or a habit. In 2001, after a loss to Miami, he literally buried a game ball.

• 07

  Trust lets you play aggressively.

  If you're unsure whether a teammate will run the right route or fill the right gap, you hesitate and wait. Belichick drew on Navy SEALs, who recognise teammates' silhouettes in the dark, and the Blue Angels, who fly 18 inches apart. What matters is what the guy beside you thinks, not social-media likes; trust is earned daily by being prepared.

• 08

  Own mistakes instantly so the team can fix them.

  On the sideline, 'my fault, I missed the tackle' resolves it at once; a blame game wastes the little time you have. Belichick would say, 'that was a bad call — I won't call it again.' Repeated assignment errors after ten reminders get a different response: maybe someone else should play.

• 09

  Discipline is doing the right thing every time.

  Every NFL player can make plays; consistency separates them. It's like returning the shopping cart when no one's looking. Matt Slater, Devin McCourty and Brady kept their routines — treatment two days before Christmas — so the expected decline didn't come.