I knew I wanted to eavesdrop in on some NFL Draft programming for this feature and I was quite intrigued when I saw both Nick Saban and Bill Belichick were going to be on. Initially I set out to drop in on both throughout the night, but then something incredibly strange happened, and that was Pat McAfee’s 5th Annual Draft Spectacular with Bill Belichick.
I wanted to catch the very beginning of the show, but two things prevented me from doing that. One, they started earlier than advertised and two, there was no audio on the feed for the first several minutes.
As the live audio starts working McAfee, Belichick, and Tone Digs, clad in a cowboy hat, are working on a makeshift draft board. They were using Field Yates’ player rankings. Belichick is talking about how the boards are put together. He also shows how to read them. For the first time you see that Coach Belichick is going to bring something a little different to the table.
As they move from the draft board to their set, McAfee is standing next to Bill Belichick, Darius Butler and AJ Hawk, while Ty Schmit, aka ‘Mad Mel,’ is in character (impersonating Mel Kiper, Jr.) standing next to ‘Boston’ Connor Campbell who sports a mullet and was wearing a tuxedo.
Sometimes in life, things get worse before they get better, and this was one of those times. Oz Pearlman, known as ‘Oz the Mentalist’ comes out and starts wrapping a large mail envelope around Campbell’s waist. You had to see it to believe it.
“Buckle up, Bill, it’s gonna be about seven hours of this,” McAfee said.
And then, all of a sudden, something else happened. The show settled in and off we were on a magical ride over the next four (not quite seven) hours. You couldn’t turn away from it.
Belichick first dissects some film of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. He talks about what they had that are things coaches look for in NFL quarterbacks, such as footwork and accuracy. He compares this to the top quarterbacks this year and says, “They all have things they need to work on.”
The first pick is made, and McAfee goes to ‘Mad Mel’ for comment. The impersonation was spot on, and it was funny. Then, out of nowhere, comes analysis from Belichick and it is unlike what you have seen before. He says Caleb Williams reminds him of Russell Wilson and shows some film with both positive and negative plays. Belichick himself had picked video clips that backed up the points he was making.
Over the next few picks, no matter what was happening around him, Belichick delivered the goods. His film breakdown is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. He is not speaking over people’s heads; he is explaining what he is looking at. One hour in and Belichick is looking like he is going to be great at this media thing. He speaks clearly and as a fan you are learning about football watching and listening to Bill Belichick.
He also drops in some humor here and there. One line was, “We’ll see about that,” when it is mentioned Drake Mayo compares himself to Josh Allen.
At times there is a circus going on, but McAfee did an excellent job of being the ringleader. Meanwhile Belichick just had fun with it and analyzed the heck out of what was happening when it was time.
Adam Peters, the Washington Commanders GM, joins the show as the first off-site guest. It had been a hot topic this past week that their pick, Jayden Daniels, might not have appreciated being brought in with a group of quarterbacks recently and McAfee hit Peters with a question about that topic immediately.
Then Peters took a question from ‘Mad Mel’ and said he can’t take it seriously. Again, a funny, light moment. Then, you see something that will become more and more obvious as the night goes on, which is the level of respect people in the NFL have for Bill Belichick. As excited as the group was to have Peters on, you got the feeling Peters was more excited to be on with Belichick. Belichick also fired a great question at Peters asking if they might consider trading back into the first round.
Later you get Belichick’s honest surprise with the Falcons taking Michael Penix Jr. He does add, “Having two good quarterbacks is never a bad thing.”
As the middle part of the first round continues, you notice how incredibly well-prepared Belichick was. Additionally, Belichick showing how the draft board works as you go through the round is gold. This is information football fans have always wanted, it’s innovative, it’s different and it’s really good.
The next guest who comes on is Pat McAfee Show regular Aaron Rodgers, sporting a tremendous moustache. As the interview is going on I couldn’t help noticing the smile on the face of McAfee. He had to be thinking to himself, ‘Holy sh**, I have Aaron Rodgers facetiming into a draft show I am hosting next to Bill Belichick.’
At one point Belichick tells Rodgers how much he appreciates him and looks forward to not coaching against him. In keeping with the theme of paying respect to Belichick, Rodgers says, “…These days, everybody’s the GOAT…it should be reserved for the very, very few who actually are the greatest of all time and Bill, I don’t want to embarrass you, but you are the GOAT.”
At the same time, while a variety show is going on around him, Belichick seems to be having a blast and now you also find out that he is booking guests for the show as well. McAfee says Belichick is texting Sean Payton live on the show while a magic trick is being performed. This is definitely not your grandpa’s draft coverage.
Before Payton comes on, Indianapolis GM Chirs Ballard dials in and pays the ultimate compliment to Belichick as the interview wraps up. McAfee says to Ballard, “Anything to say to Bill?” Ballard replies, “Coach Belichick when you come back in the league, go in the NFC.”
Then Payton makes his appearance and what you notice is that with Belichick on, the answers seem different. It’s not a coach talking to the media, it’s a coach talking to another coach. Payton really breaks down why the Broncos were so interested in Bo Nix. He then talks about some deals he had worked out on draft day with Belichick in the past and says it is not the same with the new crop of younger coaches and GMs.
Belichick is now just absolutely on a roll. McAfee points this out, and the coach says, “It’s the Draft Spectacular not the Draft Mediocre,” and then soon is seen bowing down doing the ‘we’re not worthy’ for the magic tricks being performed by Oz.
Each time you think the show is going to get completely out of control, McAfee brings it back and they go right back into the draft analysis.
As the later picks happen in the first round you get some great moments such as Belichick getting fed up with what to call defensive lineman who rush the quarterback. “Can we ease up on the ‘Edge Rusher’ it’s a ‘Defensive End,’ he says.
Almost three hours in and McAfee shares they are getting in trouble for giving out the picks before the commissioner announces them. This leads to some funny moments as Belichick is seeing who the picks are on social media but is having trouble not talking about them on the air before they are supposed to. Belichick is as energized as when he started the show.
The rest of the show carried out as expected. You had ‘Mad Mel’ yelling at Roger Goodell to make a pick, then later he pounds on the desk and screams, “Fu**, fu**, fu**, fu**” when his team, the Green Bay Packers, selects Arizona lineman Jordan Morgan, then later reveals he may have broken the hand. You get Belichick calling out directions to the producer while rolling film on the players and you also got him saying, “Can we take a look at the board,” one time when the rest of the cast was getting out of control.
Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell makes a visit, gets a question that includes the words “works his di*k off,” and of course he pays homage to Belichick. And then you get even more magic as Barry Sanders walks on the set. ‘Mad Mel’ was so excited to be standing next to Sanders he completely broke his character. Belichick is incredibly complimentary of Sanders and says, “Of all the players we’ve had to cover, nobody was harder than you…Thank God we had LT…nobody was harder to defend…and a better person than a player.”
At this point the first round is winding down. As the final players are selected, McAfee starts to wrap up and says, in reference to the show and Belichick, “We got better this year. You know why – because your old ass was here…You were awesome here.”
The whole team looked ready to go and Belichick seemed like he could keep going. He tells a great story about trying to reach Randy Moss in 2007 to let him know they had traded for him and how Moss hung up on him the first two times he called not believing it was him.
“Tonight was awesome…You crushed it,” McAfee said.
“Is there any chance I could be on your show during the Fall?” Belichick asks McAfee.
“You mean like Mondays?” McAfee says as the show finishes.
Learning there would be more of this to come was the best way possible to end the night.
Dave Greene is the Chief Media Officer for Barrett Media. His background includes over 25 years in media and content creation. A former sports talk host and play-by-play broadcaster, Dave transitioned to station and sales management, co-founded and created a monthly sports publication and led an ownership group as the operating partner. He has managed stations and sales teams for Townsquare Media, Cumulus Media and Audacy. Upon leaving broadcast media he co-founded Podcast Heat, a sports and entertainment podcasting network specializing in pro wrestling nostalgia. To interact, find him on Twitter @mr_podcasting. You can also reach him by email at Dave@BarrettMedia.com.
