Bill Belichick admitted his New England Patriots team could never control Jason Kelce as they discussed football strategy on one of the legendary coach’s new shows.
Belichick left his post as head coach of the New England Patriots after 24 seasons in January, a remarkable tenure that saw him win six Super Bowls.
He faced Kelce, who played center for the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring in March after 13 seasons, four times during his coaching career.
But the legendary coach has now admitted that he was never able to control Kelce and that every strategy he had to minimize him failed. Belichick’s record against Kelce is 2-2.
Speaking on ‘Coach with Bill Belichick’ in Underdog Fantasy, 72-year-old Matt Patricia, former Patriots defensive coordinator, explained how they would try to slow down Kelce.
Bill Belichick admitted that his New England Patriots team could never control Jason Kelce
Belichick revealed how Kelce always came out on top against the Patriots defense
Belichick said: ‘We have what we call ‘go-to guys’ and it’s usually a receiver or tight end like (Zach) Ertz, somebody like that.
‘We played you, Kelce is a guy you always go to and I was like, ‘Don’t let him shoot. I don’t want to see him leading someone off the numbers. Cover him, get on him and if he shoots, grab him.’ You still shot. It drove me crazy.’
Patricia continued: ‘It was a long Tuesday for me. Game planning was like ‘hey Matt, do we have center Kelce covered? Yeah, coach, we have him covered. Can he shoot? No, he can’t shoot. He’s shooting!’
“I say something like, ‘Coach, I don’t know what to tell you right now.’”
Kelce then interrupted and said, ‘Let me throw it. I don’t care if he’s got his head up, just send a guard down, he’s not going to make the tackle. Let me out of here.’
“But yeah, I think if I had game-planned for myself, I would have done the same thing. Don’t let me get to the second level, make me block the big guy up front. That’s not my strong point.”
Belichick: “We tried our hardest. I wish you would have retired five years ago.” Kelce joked, “Same here, Coach.”
Kelce played center for the Philadelphia Eagles before retiring in March after 13 seasons.
Since his retirement, Kelce has received numerous commercial and media opportunities.
He is currently preparing for his new role at ESPN and recently spoke about covering his younger brother Travis when the Kansas City Chiefs take on the New Orleans Saints on Oct. 7.
Talking with PEOPLEJason confidently said that he would be fair in criticizing his brother while also enjoying the job.
“I don’t know if I’m going to talk about Travis any differently than I do about anybody else. I mean, I feel like I’ve been praising him for as long as I can remember,” she says.
“I have to be honest, I think it’s important to do that whenever you comment. So I’m going to try to do it and say what I think naturally and without thinking too much about it.”
Kelce’s first game on Monday night will be a highly anticipated matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets.