Belichick

There were many nights in Cleveland, said Ferentz, when Belichick worked through the night and into the morning, opting to sleep on the couch in his office. But unlike many coaches, he said, Belichick "didn't broadcast that fact," and he also didn't try to guilt the rest of his staff into working the same hours.

"He's intense, and he's not a guy who cuts corners, that's among the compliments I would pay him," said Ferentz. "All he asked of everyone else was to put in whatever time they felt necessary to get the job done. No guilt that way. If you got the job done, that's all he asked."

Ferentz, who fondly recalls teaching English literature at Worcester Academy for two years in the late '70s, remembers the hours immediately after the end came in Cleveland. It was Valentine's Day 1996, and with Ferentz sitting in his office, Belichick immediately got on the phone to promote his offensive line coach for openings around the NFL.

"I missed his first two years in Cleveland, and when I first got there, people around town would tell me he was arrogant," said Ferentz. "I have to tell you, arrogant is the last word I would use to describe Bill Belichick. He is private. And while he is a great conversationalist, he's not that way with everybody. Small talk's not his thing. But I know him as a warm and genuine guy. He's a deep thinker, very intelligent, and he's got a very healthy sense of humor."

According to Landry, Belichick is not a joke teller, but he is funny, his humor more of the one-liner variety, and sometimes whimsical and cutting.

"You'd hear it in meetings when he'd talk about a player," recalled Landry. "Like talking about a defensive back, and he'd say, 'That guy wouldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat.' "

Ferentz said he knew Belichick, sensing that his next coaching job could be his last if things turned out like Cleveland, would be very particular about where he coached after the Browns. He said Belichick also left there wanting to eliminate any shortcomings in his coaching game, allowing him the best chance to succeed in that next job.

Shortcomings, in Belichick?

"None that I ever saw," said Ferentz, noting that "no one has mastered the approach to coaching" like his old friend. "But he does have one vice."

Ah, finally, what we've all been waiting for . . . the deviant twist to blow wide open the inner secrets of the unknown Belichick.

"Popcorn," said Ferentz. "And not just any popcorn . . . but Johnson's popcorn, from a little stand on 14th Street in Ocean City, N.J. He loves the stuff. When we'd have coaching meetings in Cleveland, he'd sometimes bring in tubs of it and set it out on the table. Let me tell ya, it's as good as Ben & Jerry's ice cream."

OK, fine, a little corny, but it's not every day we find out New England's killer coach has direct links to a popcorn stand in the thick of Giants country. The stuff of New York tabloids. That ought to get a laugh out of him.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at dupont@globe.com.