FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick’s interview on Thursday with CNBC’s “Power Lunch” on leadership, competition and football had several notable nuggets that are worthy of discussion.
The first thing to note was the location: Mission BBQ in Annapolis, Maryland.
“Your choice,” said interviewer Suzy Welch, before asking Belichick: “Why are we eating here?”
“Well, first of all, I love Annapolis. This is home,” he answered. “I love what Mission BBQ stands for. I love their message, the fact they support the people that serve. When I was here last night, they were packing up a few hundred pounds of their barbeque to ship off to Iraq.”
Right there, before things went any further, one could tell this was going to be a different type of Belichick interview.
Later, Belichick presented one of his father’s old jackets from when he was a physical education instructor at the Naval Academy to Mission BBQ, so it could be part of the restaurant’s display collection. The influence of Belichick's late father, Steve, was a theme that resonated throughout the interview.
Here are some other takeaways:
When asked to describe the tenets of his leadership style, Belichick listed four things: 1. Do your job. 2. Be attentive. 3. Pay attention to details. 4. Put the team first.
After talking about quarterback Tom Brady being a “special player to coach,” Belichick highlighted what he values in players: “It’s not all about talent. It’s about dependability, consistency and being able to improve. If you work hard and you’re coachable, and you understand what you need to do, you can improve.”
Belichick detailed his five rules of exceptional leadership.
When questioned about if retirement is in his thoughts, he said, “I am kind of shortsighted here, so I’m good, certainly good here this year, good for a while. I like what I am doing. I enjoy all parts of the game -- the team building, training camp, game days, the excitement of Sunday … it beats working.”
Belichick keeps his Super Bowl rings in a safe. “I’m not a big jewelry person,” he said.
In a word-association game, Belichick called football “more sport than business,” while also acknowledging it is indeed a business. One could almost feel his lament in that area. “But I respect the game for the game and the sport,” he said.
In that same word-association game, when asked about Deflategate, he responded, “Ridiculous.”
Belichick described the Super Bowl as “close to a miracle.” He joked that he has to watch it every once in a while to make sure it ended the way it did.