There’s one head coach in NFL history who has arguably impacted the game more than anyone. It is the 8x Super Bowl Champion, Bill Belichick. Concerning this legacy, the Boston Celtics’ GM Brad Stevens had some strong sentiments to share. The Celtics have pocketed the massive finale against the Dallas Mavericks with a 106-88 score and Stevens did not hesitate in crediting the 3× AP NFL Coach of the Year, Belichick for teaching him the winning mindset.

The GM went to The Pat McAfee Show and bluntly remarked how he was fortunate to have studied a lot of football, which helped him shape his mentality. AJ Hawke asked Stevens about how he plans on being consistent in a tough, dynamic league and not losing his momentum. Hawke further compared it to what the Patriots have achieved over the years and established a dynasty like no other.

When Stevens arrived in Boston, it was “right in the middle of the Patriots dynasty,” and he recalled, “The quarterback room when I went and sat down with those guys you know where it’s Brady and Garoppolo and Brissett and Josh, “ meeting the top tire of the New England team. This occasion helped him change his outlook on being consistent in his lane, and most importantly value the right talent.

Particularly commenting about Bill Belichick, his experience, and smart sporting, Stevens mentioned, “You have all these future head coaches walking all over that building and Bill is obviously, you know the most amazing resource you could ever have here. So, you learn a lot from those people.”

“What we’ve been fortunate within our runs of playoffs is that we had a chance to be good and, at the same time, had a couple of other picks that we knew were there. It’s about finding the people that fit best around them,” added the Celtics GM as he accepted The Patriot Way: an ideology that aims to capitalize on the talent present in the team and encourage the best from within them.

Surprisingly though, the Belichick-Stevens relationship is not new. There were times when the Celtics’ GM admitted that Belichick had a hand in the basketball team’s success, though in a minute manner. The Pats’ former HC was often spotted in Celtics games and their relationship didn’t even revolve around sports. Instead, Stevens thought that Belichick was “just very funny.”

Small talks with Belichick that lead to a big championship

In an appearance on the Toucher & Smith Podcast back in 2022, Brad Stevens admitted that Belichick and he used to visit each other’s team during practice times and that he knew Bill Belichick “pretty well.” He would often pick the football coach’s brain and compare plays in each other’s books and even found some similarities.

“He had a number of his staff over there the other night, watching the game and so it was it’s always good. Mostly small talk, but, we will occasionally get into some similarities between what we’re doing and what they’re doing just from a structural and play standpoint,” said Stevens recalling a Celtics-Bucs game that happened in the earlier half of 2022.

Talking about the common defensive plays, the Celtics GM explained, “There are some, I found that to be the case, especially the way that they defend and the way they try to take away an opponent’s play by disrupting it at the point of attack.” Stevens admitted that he only had small talks with the ex-Patriots HC, but from what we can see, it looks like he took a lot many learnings home. He continued to draft players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porziņģis who will lead his team to become champions within a matter of years.