Bill Belichick’s debut as a member of the media received no shortage of praise.
The same, however, can’t be said of his second showing.
On Monday, The Pat McAfee Show aired Belichick’s one-on-one conversation with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, which was taped at the NFL Draft. But while the 6-time Super Bowl champion head coach drew rave reviews for his presence on The Pat McAfee Show‘s Draft Spectacular simulcast, his talk with Goodell be described as awkward, at best.
For one, there was no moderator or traditional media presence involved—just Belichick and Goodell one-on-one. And as impressive as the former New England Patriots head coach was while offering analysis during the Draft Spectacular, he was noticeably uncomfortable when the occasion called for him to ask guests questions.
In fact, after Belichick did his best to set up the segment, it was Goodell who took charge of moving forward with the format, which called for the duo to answer questions submitted by fans and McAfee himself. Those questions were largely softballs centered on the latest happenings in the league, including the new kickoff rule, the banning of the hip-drop tackle, and the grand finale of “The NFL is the greatest league on Earth. Why do you think that’s the case?”
Even the most potentially controversial question, one focused on the state of officiating, drew a chuckle from Goodell and Belichick couching his suggestion that officials should be full-time with overall praise for the job they have been doing. To say this was a softball interview would be an insult to softball interviews. And it also didn’t help that the entirety of the eight-minute conversation was plagued by audio issues that made it sound like they were filming next to a freeway.
That’s not to say that anyone was expecting this conversation to be Frost/Nixon, although some acknowledgment of Belichick and Goodell’s complicated past with each other might have made the segment seem less insulting to the intelligence of its viewers. Rather, the biggest issue with the conversation is that, unlike the Draft Spectacular, it highlighted the three-time Coach of the Year’s weaknesses without providing him the opportunity to showcase any of his strengths.
As Belichick evolves as a media figure, we’ll continue to learn what he’s good at and what still needs to improve on. Thanks to his first two appearances in his new role, we already have clear examples of both.
