Belichick has come a long way

Football Betting Lines

01/30/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Smug, introverted, standoffish.

Those are a few choice words that come to mind when describing New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. There are plenty of other adjectives used to characterize one of the most successful head coaches in the NFL, however, such as knowledgeable, strategic, supportive and meticulous.

And add appreciative and thankful to the list in painting a picture of the man who has made cut-off hoodies a fashion trend in the NFL. Fortunately, Belichick's attire is no match for the product he puts on the football field, though he admitted that "not for a second" could he ever imagined leading a team to its fifth Super Bowl in 11 years.

"I really just try to live in the moment, whatever that is," Belichick said on reminiscing on past accomplishments upon the Patriots' arrival in Indianapolis for Super Bowl XLVI. "Right now, it's here, and I'm happy to be here, believe me. There's no place I'd rather be.

Other points in time, I was dealing with other challenges, other teams and other situations. I tried to do the best I could in those situations with whatever responsibilities I had. I never really thought too much about where it was going to go."

Belichick reflected on his time with the Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos and New York Giants during his press conference from the team hotel in Indianapolis on Sunday. He mentioned how time consuming it was in dealing with head coaches and players as an assistant, and noted he never took the time to focus on where it would eventually take him.

He also expressed how vital it was to do your job and take care of business before expecting good things to come out of it. If one fails to do those things, Belichick remarked that "you are not really fulfilling your responsibilities to the team and the organization that is counting on you."

Those traits were fostered in Belichick's early years from his father, Steve, who passed away in 2005 after playing both college football and briefly in the NFL. From the time Bill was only four years old, Steve, who was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the United States Naval Academy, played a major impact on his son's life and his love for football.

The elder Belichick also shared a Gatorade shower with his son, courtesy of linebacker Tedy Bruschi, following a Super Bowl XXXIX win over the Philadelphia Eagles -- the last of three Patriots' championships within a four-year span from 2001-04.

"He had a huge impact on my childhood, my love for the game and my involvement in the game as a coach, even though I played poorly," Bill Belichick said. "It was still a good experience to play, but coaching, really, has always been the love. I think a lot of little things he did [were] in terms of work ethic and teamwork. Being around the Naval Academy, of course, that is a very unique atmosphere, particularly as it relates to football, but the teamwork that comes with that and the commitment that those players and teams have, I saw at a young age."

It's no surprise that Belichick has cradled that teamwork aspect and instilled it within every organization he has been a part of. He was Bill Parcells' defensive coordinator during the New York Giants' first two Super Bowl runs, and many believe that Parcells wouldn't have garnered so much success in the Big Apple had it not been for Belichick's strategies. Belichick's defensive game plan in New York's 20-19 victory over Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV can be found in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Enter the new millennium, and Belichick's Patriots have been a model of consistency and an organization that other coaches and players are trying to emulate. Expert drafts and key additions through free agency have both played their part in advancing New England to where it is today.

Not known to tip his hand or give opposing teams any kind of leverage for an upcoming matchup, Belichick is already toeing the road to the Hall of Fame by amassing a sizzling 17-6 record in his postseason career. He is tied with Joe Gibbs for the third-most playoff wins in NFL history, trailing only Tom Landry (20) and Don Shula (19). By the way, Gibbs, Landry and Shula all have their busts on display in Canton.

Belichick is also one Super Bowl win away from tying Pittsburgh Hall of Famer Chuck Noll with four as a coach. He was asked on Sunday how accomplishing that feat would make him feel.

"It would make me feel pretty good, he said. "It's a great honor to be mentioned in the same conversation with Chuck. Chuck was the coach of the Steelers the first year I was coach of the Browns. I got to know him my first few years in the league. I coached with several coaches who coached under him at Pittsburgh. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Chuck and the job he did with his team and the organization. So, it is very flattering to be mentioned in the same sentence with Chuck Noll."

Much like Noll had with quarterback Terry Bradshaw, Belichick has had Tom Brady at his side throughout all of his success in New England. That may not have happened if it wasn't for former New York Jets linebacker Mo Lewis, who leveled then-New England starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe in Week 2 of the 2001 season, the year the Pats captured their first of back-to-back Super Bowl titles.

Brady has been the man ever since, and both he and Belichick earned their fifth Super Bowl appearance together -- the most ever by a head coach-quarterback duo -- following New England's 23-20 triumph over Baltimore in the 2011 AFC Championship. Noll and Bradshaw went to four.

Once again, the Patriots will have the Giants standing in their way for NFL supremacy when the two teams meet in Super Bowl XLVI at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Giants, of course, wiped out New England's perfect season back in 2007 with an upset win in Super Bowl XLII, and possess a stout defense that could shake up the Pats' plans for redemption.

Belichick reiterated on several occasions that all of the meetings between the storied franchises in the past carry no weight. He also mentioned how it's all about the current rosters, and that there's not too many coaches and players still around on either side from the previous Super Bowl meeting.

"We are where we are now, and we're different than where we were earlier in the season," said Belichick in referencing New York's 24-20 win over the Patriots back in November. "The Giants are where they are now, and I think they're different than where they were at different points of the season. To take it back years and years before that, I don't think it has too much bearing on anything. The team that wins Sunday will be the team that performs the best. That's what we are trying to strive our preparations for, is maximizing our performance on Sunday night."

As usual, Belichick will put all he has into Sunday's rematch with New York, which is nothing new for a man on the verge of fastening his legacy as a coaching mastermind. It's a foundation of success that was laid when Belichick first learned about the game, and decades later the young boy who sought out advice and knowledge from his father has been passing on that treasure chest of information to his own players and coaches.

With a win on Sunday, perhaps Belichick will finally be able to reflect on where all those years of learning and teaching has taken him.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.