What Bill Belichick Learned From Nick Saban While With Cleveland Browns

The two coaching legends worked together in Cleveland from 1991-94.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick chats with Alabama head coach Nick Saban during Pro Day on the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Tuesday March 19, 2019. Pro04 | Mickey Welsh / Advertiser

Nick Saban and Bill Belichick truly do not need an introduction.

The seven-time college football national champion (six at Alabama) and the eight-time Super Bowl champion (six as a head coach) worked together on the Cleveland Browns coaching staff from 1991-94. Belichick was the head coach and Saban was the defensive coordinator. The Browns had the NFL's best scoring defense in 1994.

Fast forward to today, Saban is an analyst for ESPN's College GameDay and Belichick is in his first year as the head coach of North Carolina. The renowned pregame program interviewed Belichick on Saturday and discussed his time with the former Alabama head coach.

"I learned an awful lot from coach Saban," Belichick said. "We came from different defensive systems, and we merged them in Cleveland. I learned a lot from him about man-to-man coverage, which we didn't play a lot of with New York [Giants], and the 4-3 defense, which he played at Michigan State and Toledo.

"It's a great experience watching Nick handling free agents and recruiting a program he built at Alabama. I'm very grateful for the relationship that I have with him and all of the things that I've learned from him. He's the best that's ever done it and it was a real honor for me to be with him for those four years and have our friendship and relationship be almost lifelong in this career."

Saban responded to Belichick's high praise of him in classic Saban fashion.

"In all of the time that we've been friends, I never thought that I'd ever say that you were full of s—t," Saban said and the entire GameDay crew laughed. "But I learned a lot more from you than you learned from me."

Belichick said that's "not true" and continued to applaud Saban.

"Nobody worked harder than Nick did, both on the field and in evaluation of players in the spring and everything," Belichick said. "He looked at every single guy, from every nose tackle to every corner that was on the draft board and his evaluations probably counted more than anyone else's did.

"He's a great recruiter and a great evaluator. You can see what he did at Alabama, I'm sure he had more No. 1 draft choices and players than any other team did. The record speaks for itself."

College GameDay is in Tuscaloosa for No. 10 Alabama's home matchup against No. 16 Vanderbilt. Kickoff in Bryant-Denny Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m. CT on ABC.