Logan Ryan shares what it's really like to be coached by Bill Belichick
BOSTON -- Everybody's got opinions on Bill Belichick. But few people really have informed opinions on Bill Belichick.
The Patriots head coach's resume has always spoken for itself, while Belichick has remained somewhat of an enigma to those outside the walls of Gillette Stadium.
Fortunately, hundreds of players have passed through those walls over the past 20-plus seasons, and one of them -- cornerback Logan Ryan -- took some time this week to share what Belichick is like behind the scenes. Some of his remarks will sound familiar, though Ryan offered his unique perspective on what it was like playing for Belichick.
"First of all, I loved being coached by Bill Belichick. I enjoyed it. I know not everybody can do it. But the way that he treated a rookie and the way that he treated Tom Brady was pretty similar in a sense that you get what you put in," Ryan said on "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network. "And I related with that, I really did. He was very monotone. I thought he was funny. We would always be cracking jokes. But he didn't play favorites. And I think when you see these coaches, you want them -- one, to be themselves. And the [clothes] Bill wears, how Bill talks is Bill Belichick. Right? He's not copying anyone else. And you want to treat everyone fairly. And I think that's exactly what Bill does."
Ryan, who played for the Patriots from 2013-16 and won two Super Bowls, got into detail about how Belichick can see everything on every play.
"I remember a couple of stories of him twirling his whistle on the practice field and he's just standing back there and you're going through plays and he's just sitting there very chill. And then he'll blow the whistle, and you look at him, and he would correct the center for having the snap be a little off to the left. He would correct the left tackle for holding on the play or whatever," Ryan said. "So I was like, 'OK, cool, that's on the offense.' Then he'll say, 'Ryan, stop holding on the top of the route.' And I'm like, 'Hold on, how'd you see me? You have eyes on the back of your head? The side of your head?' He can correct players in live time on offense and defense, and that's when you saw the football savant, the genius in him come out. He simplified the game for you."
Ryan also spoke to Belichick's special level of credibility with players, too.
"There's a lot of people that coach DBs that never played DB. So it's easy to say, 'Hey, I need you to stay square and be really patient and use your hands when Randy Moss is in front of you ... but don't get beat deep.' So you're like, 'All right, you never played it,' right?" Ryan said. "So Bill would come up and he would show us, like, 'I want you to step like this and punch like this and do this and that.' We're like 'OK, OK,' but we're like, 'Easier said than done.' He would pull up grainy footage from 12 years prior of him doing the same exact drill with Ty Law. And you're like ... OK, he's coached Ty Law, and Ty Law did this drill, so who am I to sit here and say this drill's not gonna get me better?"
Ryan added: "He has so much credibility because of the players that he's coached and the success that he's had, and he was doing drills that were timeless drills. He's a historian and he teaches football in a timeless way. Like, you know how some people make timeless music? Like it's never going to go out of style. That's kind of what Bill would do, and he's not afraid to be very innovative and versatile as well and change with the game. So I just think his education, his knowledge -- obviously -- is well-known. His history -- he's a historian up there, teaching you facts about the triple option in 1928 or whatever."
Though Ryan only spent four years in Foxboro, he clearly soaked a lot in, and it's clearly stuck with him through his three years in Tennessee, two years in New York, and one year in Tampa thus far in his career.
"So you're getting a master course in football. You're getting the fundamentals at a high level. And he's treating everyone fair [across] the board -- playing undrafted rookies, playing seventh-round draft picks," Ryan concluded. "And you're like, 'You know what? I get what I earn here. And I' OK with that.'"
