By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-24 12:06:06
2026年1月17日，圣安东尼奥，NBA常规赛马刺队对阵明尼苏达森林狼队的下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 对一次判罚作出反应。(美联社照片/埃里克·盖伊)
一位未来的主教练曾近距离亲身学习一位传奇人物如何建立王朝。这位年轻人观察得越多，就越坚信其导师的卓越才华。
同时，他也领悟到了另一件事。
“观摩容易，模仿却难，”2009年，一位名叫迈克·弗拉贝尔 (Mike Vrabel) 的线卫在谈到比尔·贝利奇克 (Bill Belichick) 的风格时对《波士顿环球报》如是说。“用那种方式执教非常困难。”
因此，多年后，当弗拉贝尔有机会入主那间办公室，接替那位让球队荣誉陈列柜硕果累累的功勋主帅时，他并没有试图全盘照搬。一个引人注目的变化是，他让每位首发球员单独介绍入场，而非作为一个整体。另一个变化是，他养成了赛后在更衣室门口用拥抱迎接每一位球员的习惯。
尽管弗拉贝尔尊重并保留了“爱国者之道”的核心主题，但他也不惧怕用自己的方式行事。如今，新英格兰爱国者队以超乎所有人预期的速度重返超级碗的门槛，事实证明这套方法行之有效。
而对于以同样惊人的速度重返NBA争冠行列的马刺队而言呢？米奇·约翰逊和球队采取的类似方法，或许也能收获同样出色的效果。
这种类比并不完全贴切，如今也已是老生常谈。但在过去超过四分之一个世纪里，两者的大致轮廓却惊人地相似。
从1999年到2018年，贝利奇克的爱国者队赢得了六次超级碗，而格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 的马刺队则五次夺得NBA总冠军。一位教练拥有汤姆·布雷迪 (Tom Brady)，另一位则拥有蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan)。而当他们步入七旬，各自的球队巨星也相继离开后，这两位教练的光环似乎都黯淡了许多。
最终，两支球队都跌入了谷底，但他们触底的时机都恰到好处。爱国者队选中了一位来自北卡罗来纳州的高个子球员，新英格兰的球迷们梦想他能成为Z世代的布雷迪。圣安东尼奥则选中了一位高大的法国人，圣安东尼奥的球迷们梦想他能成为Z世代的邓肯。
为了执教这些新一代的超级巨星，两家俱乐部都选择了一位七旬名人堂教练的前门徒。
再次强调，新英格兰的情况细节略有不同——也更为混乱。在那里，贝利奇克收到的是一纸解雇通知书，而非充满祝贺的退休欢送会。爱国者队先是做出了一次注定失败的任命，签下杰罗德·梅奥 (Jerod Mayo)，但他在担任主教练仅一个赛季后，球队就转而选择了弗拉贝尔。
与约翰逊不同，弗拉贝尔曾真正为他的导师效力过，在2001至2008年间以爱国者队线卫的身份赢得了三届超级碗。与约翰逊从2016年开始在马刺队内一步步晋升不同，弗拉贝尔上任时已具备主教练经验，他曾在2018至2023年间执教田纳西泰坦队。
而且，与约翰逊在接任时得到波波维奇的祝福与支持不同，弗拉贝尔大概没有那种可以随时与贝利奇克交流想法的奢侈。毕竟，后者近来更专注于协调一档被搅黄的真人秀节目，以及应付大西洋海岸联盟里排名第15的橄榄球队。
但是，在约翰逊和弗拉贝尔分别执教这两支一度辉煌却陷入困境的球队的第一个完整赛季里，他们的队伍都以远超预期的速度取得了成功。
爱国者队在2023和2024赛季的战绩均为4胜13负，且已七年未能突破外卡轮。然而本赛季，他们赢得了美联东区冠军，在季后赛中击败了闪电队和德州人队，并将在周日与野马队争夺美联冠军。
马刺队在2022-23和2023-24赛季的战绩均为22胜60负，且已六年无缘季后赛。然而本赛季，他们在进入本周末时，战绩高居西部第二。
观察爱国者队的防守方式，以及他们在攻防两端对所谓‘小事’的警惕，你会清楚地看到贝利奇克‘做好你的工作’的信条仍在延续。而马刺队久经考验的对应版本，则是波波维奇的‘敲石不止’——这个短语至今仍会被像21岁的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 这样的年轻球员挂在嘴边。
在这两支球队，总体的理念保持了一致性，并且在某些方面，年轻的教练们甚至比他们的前辈更为严厉。在爱国者队首轮战胜闪电队的最后几分钟，弗拉贝尔用头撞向了防守锋线球员米尔顿·威廉姆斯 (Milton Williams)——而后者当时还戴着头盔——导致自己的嘴唇都流血了。
而在马刺队的场边，约翰逊那雷鸣般、颇具波波维奇风格的咆哮，足以让前排座位变成一个唾沫飞溅区。当他在周二输给休斯顿火箭队后暗示对手的‘强硬’打乱了马刺的节奏时，这完全是师承那位以适时指责球队‘软弱’来激励队伍而闻名的教练的剧本。
尽管如此，约翰逊不可能时刻都成为波波维奇。他组织训练和投篮热身的方式与波波维奇不同。他布置不同的战术，采用不同的策略，并且他愿意在比赛最后几秒球队领先三分时采取主动犯规战术。
约翰逊曾近距离亲身观察过体育史上最功勋卓著的教练之一是如何工作的。他也学到了他的新英格兰同行所领悟到的道理——那就是“模仿很难”。
不过，对约翰逊和弗拉贝尔而言，好消息是什么呢？
如果过去几个月的表现能预示未来，那么，他们自己的方式或许同样行之有效。
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel answers a question during a football availability, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson talks to his team during a timeout in the third quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Bucks, 119-109.
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson talks to his team during a third quarter timeout against the Milwaukee Bucks at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. The Spurs defeated the Bucks, 119-109.
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, center, watches players during a football availability, Friday, Jan. 23, 2026, in Foxborough, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson yells during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, left, and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on the field during pre-game warmups at Gillette Stadium. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald/TNS)
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
点击查看原文：Following legends, Mike Vrabel and Mitch Johnson do it their own way
Following legends, Mike Vrabel and Mitch Johnson do it their own way
San Antonio Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson reacts to a play during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in San Antonio, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Up close and personal, a future head coach learned everything he could about the way a legend had built a dynasty. The more the younger man watched, the surer he was of his mentor’s brilliance.
He also became convinced of something else.
“It’s easy to watch, but it’s hard to emulate,” a linebacker named Mike Vrabel told the Boston Globe of Bill Belichick’s style in 2009. “It’s a tough way to coach like that.”
So years later, when Vrabel got his chance to move into the office of the man who’d filled his franchise’s display case with trophies, he didn’t try to copy it all. In one striking change, he let each member of his starting lineup get introduced individually, instead of as a unit. In another, he made a habit of greeting each of his players at the locker room door after every game with a hug.
Even though Vrabel honored and preserved the central themes of the “Patriot Way,” he wasn’t afraid to do things his way, too. Now, having returned to the brink of the Super Bowl sooner than anyone expected, that’s worked out for the New England Patriots.
And having surprised almost as many people with their sudden return to NBA contender status? A similar approach might work out just as well for Mitch Johnson and the Spurs.
The parallels aren’t perfect, and the comparisons are cliché by now. But the broad strokes have looked alike for more than a quarter-century.
From 1999 to 2018, Belichick’s Patriots won six Super Bowls while Gregg Popovich’s Spurs won five NBA titles. One coach had Tom Brady, the other had Tim Duncan, and both wound up looking like less of a genius once they hit their 70s and their franchise superstars moved on.
Eventually both organizations bottomed out, and both timed their nadirs well. The Patriots drafted a tall North Carolinian who New England dreams can become Gen-Z Brady. San Antonio drafted a tall Frenchman who San Antonio dreams can become Zoomer Duncan.
To coach those new superstars, both organizations picked a former protégé of a septuagenarian Hall of Famer.
Again, the details were a bit different — and messier — in New England, where Belichick received a pink slip instead of a congratulatory retirement sendoff, and where the Patriots first made an ill-fated hire of Jerod Mayo, who lasted just one season as head coach before the team moved on to Vrabel.
Unlike Johnson, Vrabel actually played for his mentor, winning three Super Bowls as a Patriots linebacker from 2001-’08. Unlike Johnson, who worked his way up through the Spurs organizational ranks beginning in 2016, Vrabel stepped into his new role with head coaching experience, having guided the Tennessee Titans from 2018-’23.
And unlike Johnson, who received the blessing and endorsement of Popovich when he took over, Vrabel presumably doesn’t have the luxury of bouncing ideas off of Belichick, who’s been more preoccupied with coordinating a scuttled reality show and the 15th-best football team in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
But during the first full season for both Johnson and Vrabel as head coach of a once-proud franchise that had fallen on hard times, their teams arrived way ahead of schedule.
The Patriots, who’d gone 4-13 in both 2023 and 2024 and hadn’t made it past the wild-card round in seven years, won the AFC East, beat the Chargers and Texans in the playoffs, and play the Broncos on Sunday for the AFC championship.
The Spurs, who’d gone 22-60 in both 2022-’23 and 2023-’24 and hadn’t made the playoffs in six years, entered the weekend with the second-best record in the Western Conference.
Watch the way the Patriots play defense and stay vigilant of the so-called little things on both sides of the ball, and it’s clear Belichick’s mantra of “do your job” mantra endures. The Spurs’ timeworn version of that is Popovich’s “pound the rock,” a phrase still uttered by the likes of 21-year-old Stephon Castle.
In both places, the overall message has remained consistent, and in some ways the younger coaches can be even more intense than their predecessors. In the closing minutes of the Patriots’ first-round victory over the Chargers, Vrabel bloodied his lip while head-butting defensive lineman Milton Williams — who was wearing his helmet at the time.
And on the Spurs’ sideline, Johnson’s roaring, Popovich-esque intensity can turn the first row of seats into a spittle splash zone. When he suggested after Tuesday’s loss at Houston that the Rockets’ “toughness” knocked the Spurs off their game, it was directly out of the playbook of a coach known for motivating his team with well-timed accusations of softness.
Still, Johnson can’t be Popovich all the time. He doesn’t run practices and shootarounds the same way Popovich did. He calls different plays, employs different strategies, and he’s willing to foul intentionally when his team leads by three in the closing seconds.
Up close and personal, Johnson got to see how one of the most accomplished coaches in the history of the sport operated. He also learned what his New England colleague did — that “it’s hard to emulate.”
The good news for Johnson and Vrabel, though?
If the past few months are any indication of what’s ahead, their way might work, too.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News