Patriots Blog: Belichick The Jet
FOXBORO (CBS) - The Patriots and the Jets playing each other always brings up different feelings amongst the players and the coaches.
It seems every year, there are a few different connections. The most notable one: Bill Belichick.
Before coming to the Patriots, Belichick was a head coach in New York for a hot minute. He took over when Bill Parcels retired, only to resign a day later to take the Patriots job.
On Friday, he talked about what went on back in 1999.
"That wasn't a great situation all the way around, with Bill [Parcells] resigning the day before and me resigning the day after that -- all that stuff," said Belichick. "That's all water under the bridge."
Read: Pats-Jets Preview
"I honestly don't spend a lot of time looking back on that," he said. "At that point in time, that situation, I did what I felt I needed to do, and I don't have any regrets about that. There's certainly a lot of things that could have been handled differently or whatever, but... anyway, that doesn't matter now."
The Patriots ended up sending a first round pick to the Jets for Belichick. After trading up, New York selected defensive lineman Shaun Ellis. Wouldn't you know it, Ellis is now on the Patriots.
As for a weekend return to New Jersey, Belichick is expecting the atmosphere at MetLife Stadium to be electric Sunday night. The Pats and the Jets always bring out the fire in their fans.
Read: Levan Reid's Patriots Blog
"(It's a) pretty intense atmosphere when these two teams play. I think if you played it in a parking lot out there by CBS [Scene], it would be pretty intense," joked Belichick. "It's a lot of energy here; a lot of energy down there. It's a good football game – two teams that know each other well – it's a good rivalry."
Tune in to the Patriots-Jets game Sunday night on 98.5 The Sports Hub. Pregame coverage begins with Patriots Gameday on WBZ-TV at 11:30am, with the Hub's pregame beginning at 5:00pm. Tune in after the game for the Patriots Postgame Show, and Patriots Fifth Quarter on WBZ-TV.
