Cassel: In Bill's mind, he's always dressed for success

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Sometimes you see Bill Belichick and wonder if he looked at himself in the mirror that morning.

I saw what he wore to his press conference on Wednesday. It looked like he was mauled by a few small animals or maybe left that sweatshirt up in the attic too long.

But people outside of the building make more of his "fashion" than his players do.

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I don’t believe he goes in and picks out a wardrobe for particular press conferences or anything like that. I believe he has what he likes to wear. That’s his routine. He goes and puts it on and that’s what it is.

In my belief, it’s not to send a message to anybody outside the building or anybody on the team. It’s just what he’s comfortable in, and that’s how he likes to go to work and get his job done.

That’s what I’ve always appreciated about Bill, and it’s one of his philosophies he preaches to the team: We don’t create outside distractions, but at the same time, it doesn’t matter what people say on the outside. It matters what we’re doing inside this building.

What matters is the work you put in, how diligent you are about learning the game plan, your commitment to the team, all those things. And it has nothing to do with what you wear.

I’m sure some players over the years -- especially guys like Mike Vrabel who love to get after him -- have given him a hard time about his outfits. But it’s all in good fun, and he doesn’t care.

And the funny part is, some guys have followed suit: Even Tom Brady has worn the cut-sleeve sweater times. It’s almost like Bill is starting a little fashion trend in the locker room. It’s picked up some steam. Obviously his fashion is so recognizable that he has his own Subway commercial.

That said: He doesn't care one bit about what players wear to their press conferences. When you’re at a home game, you can wear whatever you want. You could wear a T-shirt, jeans and a cowboy hat if you want to.

Teams usually have a dress code policy for road games, because it’s a business trip. But that’s the extent of it. You could wear a hat, you could wear an orange suit, you could wear a blue suit. It doesn’t matter.

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For Bill, it’s more about what you say than what you wear. That’s his policy. How you address the media and what you talk about is more of a concern for him versus anything you’re wearing.

The same goes for his players: It’s more about the content of what he says and listening to his coaching expertise than what he wears.

You can pick out his wardrobe throughout the course of the season just by looking at him during his press conferences. And then he travels how he travels. So, there’s not a lot to it.

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