Steve Belichick, seen at left, was an assistant football coach for the Navy Midshipmen. His son, former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick (seen at right as a child wearing #70 red jersey), says he considers himself a “Navy man” because of his growing up years with his dad at the Naval Academy. (The Bill Belichick Foundation/Facebook)
(Tribune News Service) — Bill Belichick’s unprecedented success as a coach goes all the way back to when he, as a kid, shadowed his father at the Naval Academy.
Belichick’s father, Steve, was a legendary assistant coach and scout at Navy for several decades. While Bill was a youngster, he followed his father around the Naval Academy.
Ahead of the annual Army-Navy game at Gillette Stadium last month, Bill reflected on those early memories.
“One of the biggest influences was bringing me around the Naval Academy and around great coaches like you (Lee Corso),” Bill said on ESPN’s “College GameDay.”
“I was fortunate to be able to sit in on some of those scouting reports over at the boathouse that he gave to the team,” Bill added. “And I learned a lot about preparing for a team, breaking down film, learning how to scout the opponent, both live and off of film, and how to present it to a team. It was awesome working with him.”
Between 1956 and 1989, his father served as a Navy assistant football coach and as an associate professor in the Department of Physical Education.
Steve was drafted into the Navy after Pearl Harbor, and became an armed guard officer with an amphibious task force in the Pacific.
After he joined the football staff at Navy, Steve was known for his meticulous advance scouting of upcoming opponents. He served under seven head coaches in Annapolis, was part of 17 Navy wins over Army, coached two Heisman Trophy winners (Joe Bellino in 1960 and Roger Staubach in 1963) and helped lead Navy to six bowl games, more than any other coach in school history.
“I was an only child, spoiled, and I did what my Dad did,” Bill said on ESPN. “I followed him around. I went to practices. I went to meetings. I watched coaches like Coach Corso, and learned how to be a coach — taking different things from different coaching styles, methods and so forth, and it just kind of felt, I guess, natural to me.”
The Patriots had a number of players throughout Bill’s tenure from Navy, including long-time long snapper Joe Cardona who played at Navy and is an officer in the U.S. Naval Reserves.
“I’m a Navy man,” Bill told Navy Athletics before last month’s Army-Navy game. “Grew up in the Naval Academy, seeing so many great people at the Academy — obviously Midshipmen but also coaches and other faculty. It’s been my life, so always wanted to do well and always wanted to be safe and successful.”
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