“ I’ve found that, throughout the course of a football game, having the ball is really important and good,” said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, widely regarded as the league’s greatest football mind. “Given that the idea behind punting is to willingly and knowingly give the ball away, one would not expect it to be a very popular thing to do. Understood?” Many head coaches also discussed how, when their teams do not have the ball, most of their energy and concentration is devoted to getting the ball back, thinking of what they would do if they did have the ball, and hoping that, when they do get the ball back, they can score and not have to punt.
