Bill Belichick shares three unheard Tom Brady traits from his new book

Bill Belichick went through a lot in his 24 years at the New England Patriots, and spent much of it with Tom Brady as his starting quarterback. On Friday, Belichick shared important characteristics that made Tom Brady unique while speaking about his book on "The Pivot Podcast."

Belichick's "The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football" was published earlier this month. He wrote it when he was away from coaching for a year prior to becoming the head coach at North Carolina. The former Patriots coach noted three specific characteristics that distinguished Brady from other quarterbacks:

"Tom did three things I thought were just unbelievably great. As a quarterback, we all know worst situation you can be in is long yardage, and so as long as the ball moves forward, you stay out of long yardage. And Tom did such a great job of not allowing negative plays to happen to our offense," said Belichick. (15:15)

The coach explained that Brady mastered the art of avoiding pre-snap penalties, sacks, and interceptions.

Belichick then went into detail on the second and third things that made Brady elite:

"Number two, as I've told Tom many times, Tom, we can't gain any yards until you get rid of the ball, until he hands it to you or throws it to Randy or throws it to Julian, we can't gain any yards," Belichick explained. "Give the ball to somebody else who can and he did a great job of that..."

"Tom had a tremendous ability to see the field and understand situational football and make quick decisions under pressure. To me, those are the things that made Tom, he did a lot of things great. Those are the things that made him truly elite."

Bill Belichick makes a Tom Brady-Patrick Mahomes comparison

Bill Belichick also connected Brady's mentality to current Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Both players share a drive for perfection that extends beyond winning.

"After every game, Tom always was like, 'We left a lot of points on the field. We can be better.' We might win by 30 and it'll be like, 'We could've won by another 20,'" Bill Belichick said on Good Morning America with Michael Strahan.

In his book, Bill Belichick avoids declaring a winner in the Brady vs. Mahomes debate. "Brady and Patrick Mahomes are both really good. Controversial, I know," he writes.

What connects them is their response to success. After a tight 2024 Chiefs win, Mahomes focused on missed plays rather than celebrating. Belichick calls this "elite leadership" - the same quality Brady displayed throughout his career.

Brady himself contributed to Bill Belichick's book, writing: "Coach Belichick brought out the best in me. His book will do the same for you." The book is now a New York Times bestseller.