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July 30, 2007

Belichick: Experience as special teams coach was invaluable

Belichick, who began his 12-year tenure with the New York Giants in 1979 by serving as both a defensive assistant and special teams coach under Ray Perkins, talked yesterday about how invaluable his stint as a special teams coach proved to be in preparing him to one day become a head coach.

``There’s a certain mentality that goes along with the different positions and then all people are different, too, so the good thing about being a special teams coach is you deal with all the players every week,’’ he said ``It was a great experience and really prepared me for dealing with the whole team and not just one specific group. I’m glad I did it.

``It always surprises me when I think about how few head coaches are picked from the special teams coaches,’’ Belichick added, noting that many offensive and defensive coordinators only have an opportunity to work with half of the team.

He pointed to Dick Vermeil, who guided both the Philadelphia Eagles and the St. Louis Rams to Super Bowl Championships, as another example of a head coach who began by working with special teams. (He became the NFL’s first full-time special teams coach when George Allen appointed him to the position for the Los Angeles Rams in 1969.)

Posted by Carolyn Thornton  at 6:18 PM | Permalink