Falcons D-line coach Bryan Cox says 'Bill Belichick is a guy I love'
HOUSTON -- Atlanta Falcons defensive line coach Bryan Cox loves to talk, possibly as much as anyone in the league. One topic Cox has remained unusually mum about this week, however, is the 2001 Patriots.
A 12-year NFL linebacker, Cox made stops with the Dolphins, Bears and Jets, but perhaps the crowning achievement in a career that included three All-Pro selections came in his one season with New England, which culminated in his only Super Bowl championship.
With his Falcons and the Patriots preparing to face off in Super Bowl LI Sunday (FOX, 6 p.m. ET), Cox certainly knew that the questions about 2001 would be coming during his 60 minutes on the floor at media night earlier this week. And when they inevitably did, he wasted no time letting reporters at Minute Maid Park know he wasn’t in any mood for reflection.
“Nothing,” Cox barked Monday when asked about what it means to be playing his old team in the Super Bowl. “Let’s go to work.”
Reporters persisted, as they so often do, but Cox would not be swayed.
“Let’s go to work,” he repeated, in a tone that rang friendly, but firm. “They’re standing in the way of my destiny. Let’s go to work. Let’s go to work. Let’s go to work. They’re the enemy now. It doesn’t matter what I remember about then. Let’s go to work.”
Fortunately, Cox was far more cooperative when the topic of Patriots coach Bill Belichick came up. While he refused to discuss Super Bowl XXXVI, seemingly on principle, he was more than happy to open up about the man who, he believes, revived his career.
“When he called after the Jets released me (in Feb. 2001), it was like, ‘That’s where I want to go,’ ” Cox recalled of Belichick, at the time in his second season with the Patriots after three seasons as the Jets’ defensive coordinator (and one weird day as New York’s head coach). “Because I knew the system, I knew what I was getting going to play for him, and my career was winding down.
“So I wanted to be somewhere that I wanted to be rather than going and starting anew.”
And while Cox only played that one season under Belichick the head coach before finishing his career with the Saints in 2002, it’s clear that their time together with both AFC East rivals was a formative experience.
“I think playing for three Hall of Famers shaped me,” Cox said. “Even though Bill Belichick is not in the Hall of Fame now, playing for Don Shula, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick -- I got three of the best coaches that you can mention with anybody that ever coached in this league. And so the things that I learned from those gentleman, I carry in my life, as a father, as a husband, as a coach, and I try to emulate some of the things that they taught me.”
As it pertains directly to Belichick, who will be coaching in his seventh Super Bowl since teaming up with Tom Brady in Foxborough, Cox said much of his own coaching style was directly impacted by the pair’s time together.
“He only asks you to do what you’re good at,” Cox said. “If you can’t do it well, you won’t be asked to do it. And that’s a truly great coach, when he only asks the things that, positively, you can do. If you’re not good at it, he’ll tell you on Monday, ‘Hey, you’re not playing this week because you can’t cover any one of their guys,’ OK? And as a veteran player you respect that, you understand.
“So that’s always appreciated, and that’s what he does best,” Cox added of Belichick. “If you can’t rush the passer, you ain’t dressing that week if they need pass rushers. If you are a slow guy that can’t run, he ain’t going to go out there and ask you to cover Marshall Faulk one-on-one. He won’t do it. And that’s what makes him truly great.
“There are some coaches that believe that their system defends everything and there are others that believe that, ‘I’ve got to look at the people that I have that are doing the defending.’ And that’s what makes a good coach.”
Considering Cox’s adoration for Belichick, it’s also likely no surprise that he also tries to to emulate him when he works with the Falcons’ improving D-line.
“The biggest thing I probably pass along from Bill is the ‘do your job’ slogan,” Cox said. “That ain’t new. That thing started a long time ago. It started as far back as I remember, in '98. But you learn great things from great coaches and you carry it, not just on the football field but in your life, and that’s what’s really special to me.”
It’s clearly a special connection between two football men with a shared experience and plenty in common, but much like his frequently surly mentor, Cox is consistent, if nothing else, about what he refuses to address.
“I don’t want to talk about 2001,” Cox said, when pressed one last time about his Super Bowl ring as the buzzer sounded on his obligatory media window. “And here’s what I need you to understand about this: Bill Belichick is a guy I love. He helped teach me some stuff and helped recreate what people thought about me in this league. My career was over. And at the end of the day, I know some of the things that he’s going to preach in that locker room.
“But for me and for our team, it’s about the Atlanta Falcons, what we do, how we do it, our preparation,” Cox continued. “It has nothing to do with who we’re playing, what we’re playing, who’s doing what, what happened when. We just need to take care of our own jobs and do our own business.”
You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.
