A Lesson from Belichick: Understanding What We Are Up Against

One of my current reads is Belichick: The Making of the Greatest Coach of All Time, by Ian O'Connor. When I took the book out of the library I wondered what it would add that I didn't already know from having read The Education of a Coach by David Halberstam. It did not take long to learn that this was a very different book, more like "an unauthorized biography" though incredibly well-researched and probably accurate.

The one thing both books make clear is that the New England Patriots coach is a master of the game as regards reading film, reading offenses and defenses, and understanding football.

A recurring theme in this book is how impressed players and peers were by both his work ethic and his skill at interpreting game films, which he learned very early in life from his father who was also a football coach.

The biggest takeaway for me so far is the concept of WWAUA, which is to say Knowing Your Opponent or in my words here, knowing What We Are Up Against.

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WWAUA
What We Are Up Against

In U.S. presidential elections, the Debates have come to be a fundamental game-changer. For this reason, no candidate has ever gone out on that national stage without preparation. They must not only anticipate the questions, they must also anticipate their opponents reactions as well, and nuances.

In 2016 it became apparent in the free-for-all battle for the Republican nomination that Donald Trump confused his peers by using a completely different playbook than they were used to. Initially, he wasn't taken seriously. And how many times have we seen football games where the over-confident favorite has been tripped up and left dazed afterwards?

The candidates seeking nomination--Republicans and Bernie--did not fail because they were bad candidates, but because they failed to recognize what they were up against.

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