His victory yesterday was the sixth Super Bowl championship won by Patriot’s head coach Bill Belichick, the most by any NFL coach. The extraordinary run of success during Belichick’s career with New England includes 16 first place finishes in 19 seasons, a regular season record of 225-79, and a postseason record of 30-10.

In an era when NFL rules are designed expressly to prevent sustained periods of winning or losing, Belichick’s record is nearly as remarkable as the downtrodden Cleveland Browns’ 20-year record of 95-225.   

Of course, as head coach of the Browns in the 1990’s, even Belichick had a losing record, so the otherworldly forces that keep the Browns down are apparently stronger than the forces that ensure Belichick’s success.

But it is possible that no supernatural forces are involved at all, at least not concerning Belichick and the Patriots. Former Patriots player Mathew Slater credited Belichick’s leadership for New England’s success in a 2017 interview.

“There’s no substitute for character,” Slater said, and Belichick, “plays a big role in it. He understands how to motivate this team, how to draw this team closer together, how to get us to believe, how to get us to trust, and to have faith not only in our process but in one another. When we need it most, we know it’s there.”

That’s a pretty good description of effective and successful leadership that can be applied almost anywhere.

February 5, 2019