Bill Belichick pulled up to ESPN’s College GameDay, and it turns out, he may not be a 100% completely miserable f*ck after all.
The New England Patriots coach who has a strong argument as the very best in the history of his profession could ride off into the sunset, six Super Bowls in tow and perhaps show off a whole other side of himself with a fat TV deal if he wanted it. My hunch is, Belichick will continue his curmudgeonly coaching ways whether it’s with the Pats or somewhere else.
Still, it was pretty cool to see him bring along his own 1962 Navy headgear, give a quick history lesson, and pick Navy to beat Army as a three-point underdog!
Already miles better, entertaining, more compelling and interesting than Lee Corso has been in over a decade. No offense, Lee. You know it’s true.
Even before this epic stunt, Belichick actually showed a flicker of a pulse and a hint of passion when discussing the unmatched Army-Navy rivalry:
I haven’t sat down and actually watched the Army-Navy game for more than two possessions since maybe the eighth grade. It’s usually bad football. They’re both running wishbone/flexbone/triple option type stuff.
Any forward pass breaks spectators’ brains. Maybe that’s where much of the excitement and anticipation is derived from? Unsure. Almost looks like the offenses Belichick’s Patriots have trotted out in the post-Tom Brady era.
In all seriousness, now that Belichick is even adjacently involved in the annual service academy showdown, I’m far more compelled to tune in. Mission accomplished on that front, ESPN. Plus, there’s no other football really on amid this fine Saturday.
Good for Bill putting himself out there. I’m convinced that he only won that Thursday night game against the Steelers so that he wouldn’t have to report to the College GameDay set fresh off another loss. Instead, Belichick just beat a team with a winning record on the road, on a short week, with Bailey Zappe as his quarterback. Parlay that into a nice little public appearance here, and I think The Hoodie’s stock and job prospects outside of New England are skyrocketing more than ever before.
Another great little spot Belichick did outside of the GameDay purview was posted to the Midshipmen’s official X account. He shed a little light on his roots and ties to Navy.
Neat to see this more genuine, less standoffish side of Belichick. More of it, Bill, please!
