ESPN/AP reports,
Bill Belichick owns a Super Bowl title and Saturday, after his best coaching job, he won The Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year.I must say, this is a bizarre selection. Belichick is a teriffic coach and the Pats are having a terrific year. But they're only one year removed from a Super Bowl win and have most of that cast back. Marvin Lewis elevated a Bengals team that has been a league laughingstock for over a decade into a playoff contender, and Bill Parcells took a Cowboys franchise that had been 5-11 each of the three previous seasons and has them in the playoffs at 10-6. Both of those achievements are more deserving of Coach of the Year honors.
In a year of masterful coaching throughout the league, Belichick led the New England Patriots to the NFL's best record, 14-2. The Patriots, fighting off injuries almost from the outset of the schedule, won their final 12 games, setting franchise records for winning streak and victories in one year.
They did so in great part because of Belichick's brilliance as a game-planner, motivator and in-game strategist.
And they did so with a variety of starting lineups, unusual for a championship-caliber team.
"We have had a number of different people," Belichick said. "It has been that kind of team.
"Again, I am not caught up on the big starter thing. ... I think all of the players have been active at one time or another. They have contributed in one way or another. So it has been a lot of different mixes through the course of the year from game-to-game, and from one part of the season, and so I guess that part of it has been maybe a trademark of this season."
Another trademark in 2003 was the strong coaching in many cities. Although seven head coaches either were fired or resigned, there was admirable work done by Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, Bill Parcells in Dallas, Andy Reid in Philadelphia, John Fox in Carolina, Tony Dungy in Indianapolis, Brian Billick in Baltimore and Dick Vermeil in Kansas City.
Belichick, with 35½ votes from a nationwide panel of 50 sports writers and broadcasters who cover the NFL, easily beat Lewis, who received seven votes. Parcells was next at 6½ and Reid received one.
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Comments (1)
Hello, i was wonderi... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Lauren | January 29, 2004 7:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Hello,
i was wondering if Belichick has an email address that i could reach him or any way i could touch base with someone who works with the New England Patriots. My cousin who is ten years old just had heart surgery.. when he was young he needed his leg amputated and he had heart problems, now after a month after his surgery and weeks out of school.. he needs his leg to have surgery on. Please contact me as soon as possilbe.. i would love for my cousin to have a special day at the hospital when someone famous comes to visit him. It would be so wonderful
Thank you for your time,
Lauren
thank you so much for your time.
1. Posted by Lauren | January 29, 2004 7:37 PM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on January 29, 2004 19:37