His coaching acumen has confused MVPs — Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner — and lifted unheralded players to unimagined heights. His game plans are masterful. So are his motivational skills.

Still, Belichick won't hear of it.

"The team has done it. I didn't complete one pass out there. I didn't make one tackle. I didn't kick a ball. I didn't do anything. The team did it and that is who should really be recognized. So, I will just get that on the record."

And if he ties Lombardi's record? Will Belichick then use the I word to acknowledge his achievements?

Don't count on it.

"He just has it, whatever it is," veteran linebacker Ted Johnson says. "He just finds a way, the way he motivates us, the way he can get a team ready mentally and physically.

"He's so tuned in to his players. What does a team need, where they're at, whatever. He just says and does the right thing at the right time."

As did Lombardi.