New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been taken aback by the Las Vegas Raiders' relatively new facilities in Vegas.
On Monday, the longtime coach gushed over how he hasn't seen anything like the Raiders' facilities before in football. Belichick gushed over them again on Tuesday.
“Facilities here are incredible. This is the Taj Mahal of football facilities,” Belichick said. “It’s a great environment, looking forward to being in the stadium. Of course, we come back out here in the regular season. It certainly looks like they’re ready for football.
“The stadium looks good, facility looks good, and they have a good team. And a good coach. And a good staff. So, I’m sure it’ll be very competitive.”
The Patriots are out in Las Vegas for the entire week to have joint practices with the Raiders, who are coached by longtime Belichick assistant Josh McDaniels, ahead of Friday's preseason game. While this is the first-ever trip to Vegas for the Patriots, Belichick isn't concerned with the city itself and whether or not it's a formidable location for an NFL team.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick doubles down on his praise for the Raiders 335,000 sqft practice facility. Calls their Henderson HQ “the Taj Mahal” of football facilities, in response to @_CassieSoto’s question. #vegas #raiders #raidernation pic.twitter.com/cnYedrOpXV
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) August 23, 2022
“That’s all over my head. I’m just a coach. I’m trying to coach a football team,” Belichick said when asked about the NFL embracing Las Vegas. “Wherever it was, New England for the last 20-something years, but before that, I’m not worried about where franchises are, what’s going on in other cities, all the questions you asked about, honestly. Just trying to help the team, coach the team, put a good team together, do my role on the team, whatever it was. Those are questions for somebody more in that arena than I am.”
Ahead of the Patriots' first practice in Las Vegas on Monday, Belichick shared what in particular stood out to him in his brief time through the Raiders' football facilities.
“This is magnificent. I've been to a lot of good facilities and there have been some amazing college facilities, but I'd put this up there against any of them,” Belichick said. “I mean forget about the amenities, just the fields, the weight room, the offices, the indoor facility, the proximity, the ease of everything, yeah, this is as good as any I've seen. Better than any I've seen, not as good, it's better than anything I've seen. It's outstanding.
“It's great for us to be able to work here. It's ideal working conditions. We'll walk in right in off the field, lift, get refueled and hydrate and they've got stations right there in the weight room, it's set up good. We're only a mile away, whatever it is, so it's an easy transition getting dressed, getting taped, getting ready to go, coming over here getting off the bus then get ready to practice. It's great.”
Belichick, who might be as big of a football historian as anyone, couldn't help but be nostalgic about the Raiders when asked about what it was like to see the historic logo plastered throughout the facilities.
“When you walk in the building you see the three Super Bowl trophies, the ‘Just win, baby' sign and a lot of the Al Davis hallmarks. I mean it should be [historic],” Belichick said. “This franchise has great tradition. It's no different than some of the other teams, like the Colts. They moved from Baltimore or whatever and they established their tradition in Indianapolis and those guys are doing it here. But yeah, you certainly think about it, it's still silver and black.”
Belichick also said he thought a lot about former Raiders owner Al Davis when walking around through the facilities, too. He shared the relationship he had with the NFL legend prior to his death in 2011.
I spent a day with him when I interviewed in Oakland after the '98 season. I spent a lot of time with Mr. Davis and we've had a good relationship through the years,” Belichick said. “We did some deals. The [Derrick] Burgess deal, the [Randy] Moss deal. Those weren't like five-minute conversations. They were multiple weeks, maybe even months.
“But yeah, a ton of respect for Mr. Davis, everything he's meant to the National Football League and the AFL. He's one of the founders and what he's done for professional football. What he's done to bring equality and opportunity to so many. His championship level of performance and the standard that he set for himself, and his teams, and the organization are historical.
“It's tremendous. Tremendous man and was a huge influence on professional football. I'm sure the game would be a lot different if it wasn't for him, different today than if it wasn't for him. I think we're all indebted to what he's done to help this game and certainly as a coach and as a professional in the game, to me, he's one of the Mount Rushmore guys.”
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reflects on Al Davis calling him “One of the Mount Rushmore guys” of football. #vegas #raiders #RaiderNation 🎥 @Patriots #ForeverNE pic.twitter.com/bQch0zuvxH
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) August 22, 2022
The Patriots had their first joint practice with the Raiders on Tuesday and will have their second joint practice with the team on Wednesday. The preseason trip won't be the Patriots' only time out in Las Vegas this season. They face the Raiders in Sin City in December, and with it being part of back-to-back West Coast games, the Patriots will likely stay out somewhere near Vegas in the lead-up to the game.
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