Why the Belichick Disciples Fail

No NFL coach has had more success over the past two decades than Bill Belichick, who has led the New England Patriots to a 254-99 record, six Super Bowl titles, and has established the team as the preeminent organization in football.

It’d only be logical to assume his style and core philosophies would rub off on his assistants, right?

But the Belichick disciples have in large part failed when given the chance to lead their own respective teams.

Why? The answer lies in the fact that culture is hard to duplicate when we inherit people whom we need to re-train, as opposed to train for the first time. Too often, leaders simply assume everyone is going to “buy in” to a new culture based on the leader’s past credentials.

When Belichick arrived in Cleveland for his first head coaching stint during the early 1990s, he stepped into slightly-hazardous terrain, one that was filled with quality people who didn’t quite understand his procedures or beliefs. Many of his players were talented, and Belichick believed he could re-train their behaviors around his own cultural philosophies.

But a few years in, that proved to be a mistake in judgment and the team struggled before ultimately letting him go. From that moment forward, Belichick adopted his train rather than re-train approach.

When his assistants have left for their own teams in recent years, they’ve too often neglected this element because they never observed his original transformation. They have only witnessed perfect culture and complete “buy-in” from players — and can’t truly understand how difficult re-training is.

Belichick didn’t invent this concept. In fact, it’s one of the many lessons management guru Tom Peters has been preaching since his best-selling book, In Search of Excellence, was released in 1982. Peters begins his plea for training with a wonderful quote from Sir Richard Branson:

“Train them well enough so that they can leave, treat them well enough so that they won't want to leave.” 

Peters believes that training isn’t just a luxury. It’s instead “the essence of effective performance and the essence of effective teams.”

When leaders take over new cultures, they run the severe risk of not being able to escape the ways of their predecessor, then forcing these habits upon a new group.

And when success doesn’t occur quickly, team members often revolt and create major friction that diminishes any chance of a new culture being established.

When leaders train first, though, and forgo re-training, they endear themselves to those they lead and build long-term loyalty.

It’s hard, and it’s time-consuming, but in the end, it’s the difference between the successful disciple and the one who’s quickly out of a job.