Second Thoughts

Coaches not too worried about politics

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, who wrote a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday,
told reporters that he and Trump had been friends for many years.
New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick, who wrote a letter to President-elect Donald Trump on Monday, told reporters that he and Trump had been friends for many years.

Being a head coach of a college or NFL team takes time and preparation with little time for distractions.

photo

James D. Smith

Mike Pereira

For two such coaches, Tuesday's presidential election apparently counted as a distraction.

New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick clarified his relationship with President-elect Donald Trump during a news conference Wednesday before launching into a rapid-fire series of one-word answers as he sought to move the conversation from politics to this weekend's game against the Seattle Seahawks.

After opening the news conference with complimentary remarks about the Seahawks, Belichick addressed Trump, who read a letter written by Belichick at a campaign rally in New Hampshire on Monday.

"I've received a number of inquiries relative to a note that I wrote Donald on Monday. Our friendship goes back many years," Belichick said.

"I think anybody that has spent more than five minutes with me knows I'm not a political person. My comments are not politically motivated -- the friendship and loyalty to Donald. A couple of weeks ago, we had Secretary of State [John] Kerry in our locker room [after a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers]. He's another friend of mine. I can't imagine two people with more different political views than those two. But to me, friendship and loyalty is just about that. It's not about political or religious views."

Alabama Coach Nick Saban, who was Belichick's defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns in 1991-1994, won't even go so far as to discuss politics.

A reporter asked Saban at his Wednesday news conference for his thoughts on the election and whether or not coaches should avoid talking politics in public.

"To be honest with you, I didn't even know yesterday [Tuesday] was election day. We're focused on other things here," Saban said.

Saban then said he doesn't openly discuss politics because he doesn't want to make anyone angry. He did, however, express some general thoughts on the state of the union.

"I want what's best for our country," Saban said. "I want what's best for people who want to improve the quality of their life. I hope whoever our leader is, he will certainly do all that he can to make our country safe and improve the quality of life of a lot of the people that we have in our country."

Need to rethink it

Since New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton said last week that the NFL needs full-time officials, there seems to be growing support for the idea. Dean Blandino, the NFL's head of officiating, even said the idea had merit.

But a former head of officiating doesn't think it's a good idea.

Mike Pereira, who ran the league's officiating department for years and now works as a rules analyst for Fox, told Peter King of TheMMQB.com that many of the best officials in the NFL would quit officiating if the league forced them to do it as a full-time job. Pereira said he thinks there isn't enough work to do all week, and all offseason, to justify it being a full-time job.

"I can't fathom what a side judge would do all week to get better and make better calls on Sunday," Pereira said. "Read the rule book? Watch a lot more tape?"

Sports quiz

Before becoming an NFL official, Mike Pereira was an official for which two college football conferences?

Answer

The Big West Conference (1982-1991) and the Western Athletic Conference (1992-1996).

Sports on 11/11/2016

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