Bruschi sees Super Bowl coaches in a different light

Tedy Bruschi is going back to the Super Bowl.
The former Patriot linebacker, who is now an NFL analyst with ESPN, won three Super Bowls with New England during his 13-year career. Bruschi?s insight is particularly compelling for this year?s Super Bowl between the Seahawks and the Patriots, as he played for both Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick.
?I?m excited to see my two former head coaches square off in the Super Bowl,” said Bruschi. “Sometimes people forget that Pete Carroll coached in New England, and those were three very influential years of my career.”
Carroll replaced a larger-than-life figure in Bill Parcells in 1997 and lasted three seasons in Foxborough. He was replaced by the current head coach, Bill Belichick in 2000.
?Pete demands a lot from you,” explained Bruschi. “He expects a lot from his players and puts a lot on his players, and Belichick puts the demands in front of you. That?s the difference. Pete is a player?s coach and really relates to his players. But Belichick, I wouldn?t call him a player?s coach. He?s a coach that knows what he wants and then expects his players to get it done.”
Bruschi first played for Belichick during the ?96 season, when the latter was hired as assistant head coach for the Patriots. All five of Bruschi?s Super Bowl appearances ? including 2008, the last time the game was played in Arizona ? are connected to Belichick, and Bruschi knows the joys and strife of playing for his former head coach.
?The ?Patriot Way? is a hard way to live,” he said. “As a player, you?re always under constant pressure. There is a coach that?s always putting pressure on you and a fan base that constantly puts pressure on you, so you?ve got to love the pressure and live for the pressure to play in New England. That?s the way it is.
?Bill has a way of only focusing on what the next step is. Whatever step you took five minutes ago didn?t matter. It?s about moving forward, and that?s a hard message to send and for a team to buy into in this day and age.”
Bruschi expressed genuine surprise that “Deflategate” has blown up into a story of epic proportions, though he knows there have been trust issues between the Patriots and their opponents since the “Spygate” allegations in 2007.
?When it comes to my former team and when it comes to Coach Belichick, there?s going to be a lot of scrutiny no matter what,” he said. “Even if the NFL does dole out any punishment, I just know how hard they work. I know what they put in, those players in that locker room.”
Arizona is a home-away-from-home for the 41-year-old Bruschi, who attended college at the University of Arizona. The University of Phoenix Stadium, which is hosting this year?s game, was also the site of Bruschi?s lowest moment as a professional football player. The Patriots failed in their bid at perfection, falling to the New York Giants, 17-14, in 2008 during Super Bowl XLII.
?It?s the most significant loss in Super Bowl history,” he said. “We had a chance to complete a perfect season, 19-0. That was the Super Bowl that would trump all Super Bowls, and losing that game was a very difficult experience that I revisit very often.”
As for this year?s game, Bruschi wouldn?t make his predictions just yet but did offer the keys to victory for the Patriots.
?The main defensive philosophy of the New England Patriots is that there isn?t one,” he said. “That?s what makes them so hard to prepare for against. Their philosophy is to be a game-plan defense, to do whatever they feel does best to take away what you do well. “The Patriots secondary is more than enough to handle the Seattle receivers. They want to take away the middle of the field, because Coach Belichick believes those are high-percentage throws. If you want to make it tough on a quarterback in the passing game, make him throw low-percentage passes, which usually those are deep and outside the numbers. For the Seahawks to win, Marshawn Lynch needs to be the MVP, so the Patriots have to stop