Patriots coach Bill Belichick's team will go old school on the sideline moving forward, no longer using league sponsor Microsoft's Surface tablets, he told reporters Tuesday.
Boy, did he tell reporters.
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According to NESN.com, Belichick went on for more than five minutes. And though he was asked about sideline headsets malfunctioning during Sunday's victory over the Falcons, he began with the tablets.
“As you probably noticed, I'm done with the tablets," he said. "They’re just too undependable for me. I’m going to stick with pictures, which several of our other coaches do, as well, because their just isn’t enough consistency in the performance of the tablets. I just can’t take it anymore."
Belichick then touched on Internet connections and batteries, helmets and the complexity of the systems among other topics.
He closed with: “For me, personally, it’s a personal decision, I’m done with the tablets. I’ll use the paper pictures from here on, because I just have given it my best shot. I’ve tried to work through the process. But it just doesn’t work for me, and that’s because there’s no consistency to it.”
Three weeks ago, Belichick got so frustrated with the Microsoft Surface that he smashed his on the sideline.
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If you want Analog Bill's full answer, NESN's Zack Cox provides it:
Here's Belichick's full answer as to why he hates the tablets. Lasted five minutes and 25 seconds. pic.twitter.com/wcSqebtQRu
— Zack Cox (@ZackCoxNESN) October 18, 2016
Belichick's rant attracted so much media attention that Microsoft released a statement defending their tablets.
“We respect Coach Belichick’s decision, but stand behind the reliability of Surface. We continue to receive positive feedback on having Surface devices on the sidelines from coaches, players and team personnel across the league. In the instances where sideline issues are reported in NFL games, we work closely with the NFL to quickly address and resolve.”
