Former Patriots and current North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick's hard-hitting coaching style became a topic of discussion this past weekend in the NFL.
During Sunday's contest between the Bears and Cowboys, Fox sideline reporter Tom Rinaldi spoke about the budding relationship between Chicago head coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams—which then segued into a conversation about Tom Brady and Belichick.
"'He's tough on me and he's tough on me in front of everyone else on the team,'" Williams told the Fox crew about Johnson's coaching style. "Tom, I think you can relate," Rinaldi then quipped to Brady in the booth.
"What do you mean?" Brady asked with a tongue-in-cheek tone. "I had such a player-friendly coach in Coach Belichick. He'd always tell me how great I did."
Tom Brady: "I had such a player-friendly coach in Coach Belichick. He'd always tell me how great I did. You know, there was a high demand of excellence... let's say that."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) September 21, 2025
Brady and Kevin Burkhardt re: Ben Johnson's intense coaching of Caleb Williams. pic.twitter.com/qnAYcrzRY6
Like what Williams said of Johnson, Belichick is known for holding his best players—most notably Brady—to the highest standards, and when you weren't performing, you heard about it.
"You know, there was a high demand of excellence. Let's say that," Brady continued, seriously this time. "And believe me, when you're a pro quarterback, you'd much rather have your coach be hard than easy ... I think a big part of a head coach that's very in your face and very technical is it does show the rest of the team that if I can pick on Caleb, or if I can pick on Tom Brady or Peyton Manning—although I don't think they picked on Peyton Manning very much—if they can pick on me, they can pick on anybody."
Six Super Bowl titles later, it's safe to say said style of coaching worked. Now we'll wait and see if it has the same effect on the Bears.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Tom Brady Had a Hilarious Tongue-in-Cheek Chirp About Bill Belichick's Coaching Style.
