Simms: Belichick's a lifer

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has been an NFL head coach or assistant coach for 36 straight seasons, by far the most of any coach in today’s game. And former Giants quarterback Phil Simms, now an NFL analyst for CBS, thinks the 59-year-old Belichick still has a lot more years left on the sidelines. 

“Belichick, he never tires,” Simms said. “I believe he could coach until he’s 70. He never tires of the process. That’s what makes him really unique.” 

Simms also thinks Belichick leads the NFL in another way. "I'd say right now he's the toughest coach in the NFL right now," he said. And that's saying something, especially with the way coaches have backed off in recent years. 

"It's changed," he said of the attitude of coaches. "They're not coaching the same way. A guy like Parcells, you think he'd be allowed to coach now the way he did with us [in the 1980's]? Would you let him coach that way?" 

Simms believes the media pressure would be too great for coaches to be the kind of disciplinarians they were a generation ago. But Belichick comes about as close as you can get, and few question his methods because of his success with the Patriots and, before that, as the Giants' defensive coordinator. 

elichick will be looking for his 179 career win, which would leave him just four behind Bill Parcells for ninth place on the all-time list.

Up next: San Diego at home.