Real Bill of goods

It began Jan. 4, 2000, in Hempstead, N.Y., with his infamous introductory press conference during which he resigned as head coach of the New York Jets. The feud over his services got so nasty that commissioner Paul Tagliabue had to intervene. A federal court got involved. Belichick, considered one of the game's most inventive minds, had his state of mind openly questioned.

The battle finally ended Jan. 27, when Patriots owner Robert Kraft agreed to give Bill Parcells's Jets the Patriots' 2000 first-round pick and their fourth- and seventh-round picks in the following year's draft as compensation -- and subsequently had his competence questioned. That's a whole lot of fuss over one guy, especially a guy with a 36-44 career coaching record.

But looking back on it, wasn't he worth it?

Wasn't this worth it: The Patriots are 29-11 in their last 40 games (including postseason) under Belichick's watch heading into tonight's heavily anticipated, nationally televised game against Parcells's Dallas Cowboys at Gillette Stadium. That's the best mark in the league over that span. Belichick's record in New England is 35-25 for a winning percentage of .583, highest in franchise history. He's already coached the team he built as de facto general manager to a Super Bowl title.

Worthwhile? Bargain is more like it.

"When he turned down the Jets job, I know Robert was very happy because he knew both in his heart and in his head that Bill was the right guy, that he had the potential to be as good of a coach as exists in the league," Patriots vice chairman Jonathan Kraft said last week. "I think with the 3 1/2 years that have transpired since, that was accurate."

Taking the long view

There were serious doubts as to whether Belichick was cut out to be a head coach when the Patriots struggled to a 6-14 record through 2000 and the first four games of the '01 season. But not in the owner's box, Robert Kraft said.

"I always supported him because I believed in him and I believed he had a system," the Patriots owner said last week. "He had an approach to the game that was not seat-of-the-pants. I've always supported him 110 percent."

That's the same owner who drove Parcells out of New England because he wouldn't let Parcells "shop for the groceries." Yet Belichick has the final say on all decisions. It's simple. Kraft respects and appreciates Belichick's, shall we say, homeowner's vision for building a team, as opposed to Parcells's Extended Stay America style. In the offseason following the Patriots' Super Bowl win, Kraft and Belichick agreed to extend what originally was a five-year contract that ran through 2004 to a seven-year pact that will keep Belichick here through '06.

"When [Parcells] was here, even though he had a contract, he would always say at the end of every year he would decide whether he was coming back or not coming back," Kraft said. "If you've invested a lot in a business, and you're in a lot of debt, and you don't know whether your key manager's coming back or not, you want to know the decisions they're making. Are they just doing a short-term decision for today, or a decision that's good for the organization long term? If their horizon is one year, their decision-making is different.

"We don't go into any business for a quickie. We're trying to be good all the time. You can only do that with managers who have a longer-term view. I'm comfortable that in the current situation, we have a management team and organization that thinks that way."

Bonding with owner

Kraft has always thought highly of Belichick. He fondly recalled their first encounter, on New Year's Day 1995. Belichick's Browns beat Parcells's Patriots, 20-13, in the AFC wild-card game, and Kraft went to the Cleveland locker room to offer his congratulations. No one would have guessed that five years later Kraft would be offering Belichick a second chance to rebuild a franchise. "I just liked the way he handled himself," Kraft said.

Two seasons later, Parcells hired Belichick as his assistant head coach/secondary coach in New England. As the relationship between Kraft and Parcells (who was coach when the Krafts purchased the team in 1994) deteriorated, the professional bond between Kraft and Belichick matured. The two spent a lot of time talking in '96, leaving Kraft with a lot to think about during the three years of the Pete Carroll era. Kraft knew all Belichick needed was another opportunity, the right opportunity, but was reluctant to provide it after Parcells left in 1997, what with so much uncertainty over loyalties, allegiances, and agendas.

But there was no doubt about Belichick's coaching. Kraft said he believes Belichick was the difference between the 1995 team that went 6-10 and the '96 group that went to the Super Bowl.

"I remember the defensive secondary folks telling me how much he taught them and how he made difficult things simple and how he prepared them for what was going to happen better than they had ever been prepared," said Kraft.

For all his knowledge, the biggest criticism of Belichick was that he didn't know how to communicate anything but play calls. When Belichick and Kraft got reacquainted before the former came to the Patriots in '96, the owner did not find that to be the case.

"It was the first time I had met someone in the management of football that I felt an instant simpatico with who I thought was very intelligent and also I found very easy to chat with," Kraft said. "It was just very comfortable."

Comfortable is a good way to describe the new Belichick. In his 29th season as an NFL coach, Belichick's ideals aren't much different than they were eight years ago when he was an enemy of the state in Ohio. What he is learning, he acknowledges, is how better to handle his players. Whereas he once treated them like X's and O's instead of Johnnies and Joes, they've noticed a change just in the past three years.

"He's more receptive to what the players think, how they feel," Damien Woody said. "Just getting more of a better vibe of the team. When he first got here, he had to start from scratch, so he had to lay down the law. Now he's got his system in place, so he's more open to listening to the players, how they think, how they feel about things. Sometimes he's like, `No. That's the way it is.' Sometimes he's really receptive to how we feel."

"Understanding the players more, dealing with us more personally, that's the main thing," said Willie McGinest, who goes back to 1996 with Belichick. "His coaching ability's always been on point. Him being more personal with the guys, that plays a big part in making guys want to do certain things better, and that's gotten better."

"Same philosophies," said Belichick, who with a win tonight would improve his NFL career regular-season record to .500 (69-69). "I think maybe the style has changed a little bit. I think I've lightened up on a few things. Just the handling of players. Not that it's not demanding. Just a more productive way of doing things."

No rah-rah stuff

Belichick brought Rick Lyle into the league in 1994 and has coached him in all but two of his 10 seasons, so Lyle has seen the original Belichick and the slightly reinvented version. Though never thought to be a Parcells-type "player's coach," Belichick has his own way of connecting with players.

"He's not going to stand up there and give the big motivational, Marty Schottenheimer speech," Lyle said. "You're motivated in that you want to play good for him just so that he's not disappointed. We know that nobody works harder at preparing for games than he does. And so you feel like you need to prepare the same way. Anything less than that, you feel like you let yourself down and you let him down."

"All you see is this stoic guy out there on the field," Woody said. "A lot of people don't see what happens in the meeting room, on the field. The guy jokes around and talks to the players all the time. You don't really see that. All you really see is on the sideline. So, of course, that's what you're going to think. I don't really think it's a fair assumption.

"You don't have to love somebody. But you can respect somebody to the utmost. I respect him as one of the best head coaches in the league. For the simple fact that the man has been in this game for a long time. Seen a lot of things, experienced a lot of things, and I trust that any situation that comes up in the game he's going to put us in the best position possible to be successful."

What Belichick decides is the best position not always is the most popular. Before last season, he traded the former centerpiece of the franchise and one of Kraft's favorite players, Drew Bledsoe, to division rival Buffalo, which makes for a pair of emotional reunions each season. Five days before the start of this season, Belichick released four-time Pro Bowler Lawyer Milloy for salary cap reasons. Milloy signed with the Bills.

The Krafts have a say in this operation, but ultimately, when it comes to personnel, Belichick gets his way.

"He discusses things with me and explains things to me and allows me to push back," Robert Kraft said. "But I think he has a knowledge base when it comes to the technical game that I personally don't have. In the end, like any key manager in any business, if you want them to be good, you've got to let them be accountable. Let them make their decisions and hold them accountable."

Multidimensional plan

New England is in position to win for years. It leads the AFC East despite a rash of early-season injuries, mostly due to depth from successful drafts. The long-term approach of Belichick and his right-hand man, vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli, has allowed the Patriots to turn over the roster and at the same time acquire draft choices. The Patriots have two first-, two second-, and two fourth-round picks in next year's draft via various trades.

"The whole idea of being the head coach and overseeing personnel in the era of the salary cap is a very complicated thing for one person to be able to do, because it's really a three-dimensional game of chess," Jonathan Kraft said. "You're thinking about the 53 players who are going to be on your active roster, plus the five players on your practice squad, and then thinking about where each one of them is with their abilities, how much they cost you under the cap, how many years do they have left to run on their contract, and what will it cost you if you get rid of their contract? And then, the fourth dimension is, who's coming out in next year's draft?

"Bill is playing out those different dimensions of the personnel and coaching game today, a year out, two years out, and three years out. When you're thinking about that and all the moving pieces, if you can handle it all mentally, it can make you very powerful."

Or just plain good.