Patriots Win With Superior Information

The New England Patriots have been a winning team for almost two decades under coach Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady. Their secret may be information and a second head coach who focuses on strategy.

VoxPopuli: The secret of Bill Belichick

Belichick is the leader and the tactical genius, and Adams is the strategic brain. He is a statistics quant who "helps the coaching staff" by writing the weekly game plans which Belichick then implements. In game development terms, Adams is the designer and Belichick is the producer. That's how the Patriots are able to completely change their style from week to week. That's also why it has almost been irrelevant who has been serving as offensive or defensive coordinator over the years, and why very successful OCs and DCs have struggled after leaving New England.