Patriots: Julian Edelman’s Bill Belichick advice makes football sound so easy

The New England Patriots will have to try to concoct a championship offense without Julian Edelman in 2021, as the longtime slot receiver announced his retirement from football after a 2020 season filled with declining performance and injuries.

Edelman was one of Bill Belichick’s greatest reclamation projects.

While the Pats coach has earned a reputation as a questionable evaluator of wide receiver talent, Edelman came into New England as a former quarterback and seventh-round pick and left it as a Patriots legend who will almost assuredly have his number retired.

Solid job squeezing the most out of a set of tools, huh?

Edelman’s first stop as a retired man has been the podcast circuit, where has started to spill the tea and reveal some of Belichick’s coaching secrets. Surprisingly, they’re more blunt and basic than one would assume considering the reputation that Belichick has helped earn as a very complex, erudite instructor.

On Pardon My Take, Edelman revealed that Belichick’s best piece of advice for wide receivers was often the simplest piece of coaching instruction he could dish out.

Belichick would generally direct struggling receivers to “just get open and catch the f-in ball.” Brevity is indeed the soul of wit, as Belichick proved with this sage lesson.

Patriots: Julian Edelman credits Bill Belichick’s simple advice

Belichick hasn’t had a ton of great receivers in the last few years, but he has had his best results with players like Edelman, Wes Welker, and Danny Amendola who can get separation at the line of scrimmage. Seems like Edelman was indeed willing to soak up all of Belichick’s knowledge of the subject.

Edelman ended his career with 620 catches, 6,822 yards, and 36 touchdowns in addition to playoff stats that only the great Jerry Rice has been able to top. Not bad for a 5-11 option quarterback who was one step above a camp body when he entered the league.

As complex as Belichick can be from a schematic point of view, what makes him such an excellent coach is his ability to take really complex problems and dilute them into something easily digestible. Rather than focus on identifying coverages, Belichick simply told Edelman to find the open space and have his hands ready, and that strategy seemed to work out more often than not.

Edelman might’ve taken Belichick’s advice to heart, but he carved out a quality career for himself on the back of hard work and determination. All it took was very simple, yet practical, advice from Belichick to kick start his career and get him on his merry way.