When the Patriots drafted Devin McCourty in 2010, Bill Belichick had just turned 58 years old, and was telling people he wouldn’t still be coaching into his 70s. But Belichick has since backtracked on that stance, and now that he actually is 70, McCourty says Belichick doesn’t seem to have aged.
“I’ve always said, when people ask me what’s Bill like, that he’s the model of consistency,” McCourty said, via Mike Reiss of ESPN. “Showing up to your job every day, having the same attitude, the same messaging, and being able to do that over and over again is hard. He continues to come in here, Day 1 of OTAs, for however many years it is, and it’s the same intensity.”
McCourty said Belichick still coaches the way he did when McCourty was a rookie.
“It’s fundamentals, doing the right things, the small things over and over again. He never slips up on that,” McCourty said. “This being my 13th year, I’ve seen that over and over again. It’s hard to replicate, but I think getting an opportunity to play for him as a player has made me a better player.”
Belichick’s former assistant Romeo Crennel, who coached the Texans in 2020 at age 73, is the oldest head coach in NFL history. No one should be surprised if Belichick remains in New England long enough to break that record.
