Bill Belichick is a football genius. That’s one statement that will generate very little debate among football “experts” or fans. After winning three of the last four Super Bowls with the Patriots, most agree that Belichick is the best coach in football, and some even say he’s the best ever.

Yet this wasn’t always the case. When he got his first head coaching gig in Cleveland at the young age of 38, Belichick showed tremendous promise but he had serious flaws as well. He was a terrible communicator, both with the media and his players. Like his mentor Bill Parcels he was determined to take control of his football team, but that made him bullheaded and led to unnecessary clashes with icons like Bernie Kosar. With his smug demeanor and the release of Kosar, many fans began to despise him. Kosar doesn’t hold a grudge, and correctly points out that Belichick’s biggest problem in Cleveland was Mike Lombardi’s personel decisions. Now, with the help of Scott Peoli, Belickick consistently finds great talent at bargain prices.

Belichick explains all this by saying that he grew as a coach. He worked on his communications skills, and he handed over the offense to play-calling genius Charlie Weis. Now, however, Weis is gone and the offense will be run by a group of coaches, including Belichick. It has also been reported that Belichick will be calling some of the plays. This will be really interesting to watch. In Cleveland Bill was known for his ultra-conservative style of play-calling. He was mocked for consistently running the speedy but small Eric Metcalf up the middle at critical moments. If he starts calling plays in New England (or influencing the play-calling), will his old, conservative tendencies creap back, or will he let Brady and the staff be aggressive like they were under Weis?

Belichick and the Patroits are still the class of the NFL, so it will be interesting to se how they live up to yet another challenge without Weis and Romeo Crennel.