Do you believe in miracles? Unfazed by a rash of injuries and a lack of superstars, Bill Belichick lifted the Patriots higher than anyone could have possibly expected

Football Digest, Spring, 2004 by Jeff Goodman

The 51-year-old Belichick began his coaching career in the NFL at just 23, joining the Baltimore Colts in 1975 as an assistant special teams coach. In 1979 he hooked up with the New York Giants, with whom he had a variety of jobs, including the defensive coordinator of the Parcells-coached teams that won Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990.

In 1991, Belichick was named head coach of a Cleveland Browns team that had finished 3-13 the previous season. He went 6-10 in his first season, followed by a pair of 7-9 campaigns. In 1994, however, Belichick and the Browns finally broke through, finishing 11-5 and qualifying for the playoffs.

But the good times were short-lived. The following season, Browns owner Art Model announced he was moving the team to Baltimore, and the bottom understandably fell out on the field. Amid all the uproar surrounding the Browns' imminent departure, they finished 5-11.

Belichick then was fired by Modell, but he quickly found work as an assistant for Parcells on the Patriots. The duo helped lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl in 1996, where they were crushed by the Green Bay Packers. Then Parcells took a head-coaching position with the New York Jets and brought Belichick along as his assistant head coach.

Parcells quit that job after the 1999 season and handed the reins over to Belichick. However, in an odd and surprising news conference on January 4, 2000, Belichick abruptly quit, citing concerns over the team's ownership uncertainty. A few weeks later, after the legal details searching for a way were worked out ton succeeds, and a first-round draft selection changed hands, Belichick was heading up the Patriots.

It flamed out to be a wise move for both Belichick and the Patriots. After that shaky beginning as the main mall in New England, he has come into his own. That was evident in a game this season against the Denver Broncos Trailing 24-23 with 2:49 left in the game and backed up on his own one-yard line, Belichick chose to take a safety rather than print. The Broncos ended up punting it back to the Patriots, who drove the ball down the field and won the game on an 18-yard touchdown pass from Brady to David Givens with 30 ticks left on the clock.

"They may not have the explosive or big-name players, but you have to look at that group as a team," says CBS analyst Phil Simms, who played for Belichick as a quarterback on the Giants. "Opposing teams can't believe what they are doing. They start twitching because they know how much work they have coming up when they go up against Belichick and the Patriots."

The biggest knock on Belichick when he was with the Browns was his robotic approach to coaching, which alienated some of his players. That, however, has started to change. Belichick never will be confused with, say, Dick Vermeil--the emotional Kansas City Chiefs head coach who develops special bonds with his players--but he has found his own ways to connect with his team.

"He's a straight, to-the-point guy," Harrison says. "He wants you to be a professional, he wants you to work hard, he wants you to come do your job--and that's what it's about. It's not mod about personality or anything like that. He's an honest, straightforward guy, and that's all I ask for. I don't need anybody I have to talk to every day and smile and all that other stuff. It's about winning football games. It's a business."