Bill Belichick 'No Good' on TV, Predicts Stephen A. Smith of Patriots Legend
How will Bill Belichick transform himself from a mumbly and grumbly media-unfriendly coach into a friendly and inviting media member?
He won't, predicts Stephen A. Smith.
“I don’t think Bill Belichick is going to be good at all," Smith said about Belichick's potential broadcasting career on the "Green Light" podcast hosted by Chris Long.
And why not?
“It’s not about his talent,'' Smith said. "It’s about the fact that you don’t go from not giving a damn about the audience and having virtually nothing to say for years to people suddenly caring about what you have to say.”
That might be slightly harsh; there were of course moments during Belichick's 24-year time in New England when the Patriots legend opened up ... a little.
But we happen to agree with Smith's assessment in this sense: While Belichick's football knowledge may be unmatched ... TV is a different animal. If he's hired to do a studio show, that's not 10-second snippets or even five-minute answers ...
It's hours and hours in makeup and wardrobe and production meetings ... all leading up to sitting in a chair and smiling on Sundays for hours and hours more.
We don't think Bill is going to like that. And we don't think the audience is going to especially like Bill.
We've seen countless Belichick media sycophants swearing that he'll be brilliant on the television. Why are they so insistent on this when there is no way to truly know? Well, that's what a "sycophant'' does, isn't it?
Those same people predicted that he would be the czar of a new football empire ... but that didn't come true, either, did it?
And really ... how many times in 24 years did Belichick really say something that was not only informative ... but was also presented with energy and enthusiam and humor?
Can Belichick, about to turn 72 in April, change his personality for TV? Doubtful.
Will he bother to even try? Doubtful.
“You have to ingratiate yourself with an audience to give them something to look forward to when you have the opportunity to do so,” said Smith, who obviously has great insight into how to lure a TV audience.
Did the coach ever really spend time doing that? Of course not. And we bet that even if he gets hired by a national network while he bides his time for a head coaching job in 2025, he won't much bother.
