Jovial Belichick on Display in Hawaii

Ever the stoic coach on the sidelines and behind the microphone, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been a guarded man to the New England faithful. Rarely does any type of personality display itself to the media or the fans. Once in a while, Belichick will throw some dry humor into his press conferences but that’s usually all we ever get to side a lighter side to the coach that his players swear exists. And it must, because why else would Bon Jovi be a frequent sight hanging around Belichick during training camp? We finally have gotten a better glimpse to that side of Belichick, as “Patriots All-Access,” the team’s flagship program, had Belichick mic’d up during the Pro Bowl in Hawaii a few weeks ago.

If you missed Friday night’s televised airing of the program (like I did), you can watch on Patriots.com by clicking here. Here are some highlight’s from the show:

• Belichick talking to Chargers QB Philip Rivers about the game the Pats and San Diego played earlier in the season. Belichick was thankful for the turnovers that helped the Patriots win. “We couldn’t stop you,” he said to Rivers. “We were lucky to get out of there alive.”
• Vince Wilfork talk about his fishing trip in Hawaii
• Patriots Pro Bowl rookie corner Devin McCourty and his identical twin Jason, who plays for the Tennessee Titans, hang out in Hawaii
• The show profiles former Patriots QB Matt Cassel and discusses his reunion at the Pro Bowl with Bill Belichick and the Patriots coaching staff, whom Cassel credits for his current success. In one scene from an old training camp during Cassel’s time in New England, Belichick is talking to then-VP of Player Personnel Scott Pioli (now with the Chiefs) and notes that, “Cassel’s one of the real bright spots out here.” Recall that Cassel was an unheralded 7th round pick out of USC who did not start a single game in college. His ability to lead the Pats to an 11-5 record in 2008 and then move on and make the Pro Bowl this past season is a pretty remarkable story.
• Jerod Mayo discusses how happy he was to play alongside Ravens LB Ray Lewis. Mayo tried to soak as much information as he could from the perennial Pro Bowl linebacker, who was more than willing to answer all of Mayo’s questions. Lewis remarks in the piece that he admires Mayo’s play and his passion for the game.
• The final segment of the show highlights Bill Belichick during the Pro Bowl game. One of the funnier moments is after the AFC throws a bunch of picks, Belichick walks over to Peyton Manning and tells him, “We’re wearing red today.” He then goes over to the defense and asks them to remind the quarterbacks that they’re wearing red for the game. There are numerous interactions highlighted between Belichick and Ray Lewis, Darrelle Revis, Matt Cassel, and Devin McCourty (he points to Ty Law’s name listed as a Pro Bowl MVP and tells him he could be up there).

The show is definitely worth checking out and is just under 20 minutes long.