Cool that he pays homage to Al Davis. Al Davis may not be loved by everyone, but he is definitely respected.
“I would say in my experience of interviewing with different owners for head coaching positions, the subject very seldom relates to football,” Belichick said. “It’s about a lot of other things besides football. The only interview I’ve ever had with an owner that was a football conversation really was Al Davis interviewed me in depth about everything football, from personnel to coaching scheme, staff, practice, techniques, fundamentals, scouting, you name it. Now, some of that was probably a little bit of information gathering on his part, too, but he was genuinely concerned about the specific operation of the football team and how it would be conducted and how what he believed in and how that would integrate with somebody different than him who had never been in the Raider system. And it was a great day that I spent there in Oakland with Mr. Davis.”
13 comments
Great read!
Al failed to adapt at the end of his life as many of us do but he was one of the few owners that knew much about the game.
What’s his opinion on Mark Davis?
Al was a coach who became an owner, something that doesn’t exist in the NFL anymore
Can’t imagine the levels of disgust that bill is holding back with these modern owners. I have disgust and I don’t know shit about shit compared to bill.
Bill, let’s be honest, you admire Al. So feel free to come re-vitalize what he built.
This is awesome. I’ve read a few comments from Belichick over the years on his interview with Al Davis. Always great stuff and it’s clear Belichick had a deep respect for Al’s knowledge of the game.
As an aside, I’ll say if you don’t like Al Davis you don’t like the Raiders. The team is molded in his image. I’m not an old guy yet (37) but I’m hopeful that the newer generations of Raiders fans will get familiar with Al’s history and how much it means not only in relation to the Raiders and pro football, but to sports in general. He’s a unique figure in sports history, one of one. There’s some great documentaries out there (Al Davis: A Football Life is on YouTube right now) for anyone interested.
Al Davis was awesome. Thank you for posting this.
Al was also a moving force as AFL Commissioner in the merger into today’s league.
Mike Florio is an idiot. His articles contain so much pointless snark.
Only the Belichick quotes were worth reading.
Al was a true legend for his bullish opinions and his ability to search for the best player, coach, GM, CEO, etc. regardless of gender, color or other factors beyond the necessary skill of the job itself.
He will always be remembered for the full range of the ups and downs but Mr. Davis was diehard Raider through and through. He should have stepped aside in his later years, but how can I hate on a man that built something special, to the point that Silver & Black culture is 100% due to his love and loyalty to HIS team.
Irritates me when people compare Jerry Jones or anyone to Al. The man started as a scout, to levels of coaching, to GM and eventually ownership. He’s a 1 of 1 truly and I get why some might want to dwell on and to shit on his late years, but his megalomaniac tendencies were part of his DNA.
He ended up hiring Gruden over Belichick because Gruden was very young and offensive minded.
Bill didn’t mention the McDonalds cheeseburgers and KFC Cole slaw.