Bill Belichick got so mad at Super Bowl champ that legendary Patriot had to call his mom

Books and TV documentaries have been produced to capture the lasting impact of Bill Belichick on the Patriots.

With New England back in the Super Bowl for the first time since The Hoodie walked away from the NFL, old stories are surfacing about just how intense — and rewarding — the eventual Hall of Famer was for his players.

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No one was safe from Belichick’s wrath

Devin McCourty, a three-time Super Bowl champ and two-time Pro Bowler, recently revealed a powerful Belichick story that explained how the legendary coach built a two-decade dynasty in New England.

“It was an honor playing for him,” McCourty, who’ll be an analyst on NBC Sports’ Super Bowl LX pregame show, exclusively told talkSPORT in San Francisco.

“I learned so much in football. It’s the reason I have a job now doing this, is I remember the stuff he told us and I just repeat it on TV and people think I’m smart. It was incredible to get an opportunity to play for him.”

It was also so intense that McCourty had to call his mother after an all-time chewing out from an organizational leader who won nine Super Bowls overall and ranks second all-time in combined coaching victories (333).

“He used to always tell us, ‘If my expectations for you are higher than your own, then we’re going to have a problem here,’ ” McCourty said.

After being drafted by the Patriots with the No. 27 overall pick in 2010 out of Rutgers, McCourty joined a New England team attempting to solve a temporary Super Bowl drought.

During his first training camp, the young Pats defender watched a frustrated Belichick give written tests to his team after fewer than 10 practices in the summer heat.

“I think either I was higher or I was right under Jerod Mayo of the highest grades on all these tests as a rookie,” McCourty said.

“So I’m sitting here, I’m happy, and we would go through all these walkthroughs and I wouldn’t have any mistakes. I would be on it.”

Winning meant perfection for the Pats

Until the one time that the rookie fell short of Belichick’s supreme expectations.

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“It almost felt like he waited, just waited for the one time,” McCourty said.

“I remember we were in a call and a receiver motions, and I yell out a check and I’m dead wrong,” said McCourty, who finished second in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting in 2010.

“He’s like all the way in the back with his whistle and he comes up with colourful language — ‘What the … !’ And he goes like literally for 20 seconds. … I remember going home and calling my mom, like, ‘Man, I got killed today.’ “

Cut to five years later and the New England cornerback was now a safety with two All-Pro honors, two Super Bowl appearances and a world championship ring.

The Patriots were in the middle of another practice walkthrough when a new cornerback messed up a similar call.

Belichick got the best out of his players

That forced The Hoodie to turn to McCourty.

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“He looks at me he goes, ‘You can’t mess that up, right McCourty?’ ” the future NBC Sports analyst said.

“I go, ‘We’ve won playoff games, I’ve done this.’ And you remember a walkthrough mistake from my rookie year? And that was him. His brain is incredible, what he can remember, how he can just go right to a moment on different guys.’ “

For McCourty, it was the ultimate proof of Belichick’s coaching talent and dedication to the Patriot Way during the team’s dynasty era.

He coached the heck out of his team.

But Belichick also won, won and won — and still has McCourty’s ultimate respect on the verge of the Patriots returning to a championship stage in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.

“Very rarely did you get the compliments and you had to know what a Bill Belichick compliment looked like, right?” McCourty said.

“I remember with even (Tom) Brady, when we could be in the meeting room sometimes, he (Belichick) would be talking.

“Maybe we were playing one of the top quarterbacks and it’d be a moment where he’d be like, ‘There’s no guy I would rather have than that quarterback (Brady).’ And you would sit there and you’d be like, ‘Damn, that’s the ultimate Bill Belichick compliment, because that’s what you would get.’ “

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