This is the first of a multi-part series from Bill Belichick’s sit-down interview with The 33rd Team’s Mike Tannenbaum, who worked in the front office of the New York Jets while the iconic New England Patriots coach was a member of the Jets’ coaching staff.

Others in the series: Coaching Beginnings | How Football Has Evolved 

Bill Belichick’s coaching record casts a long shadow over the rest of the NFL.

He’s rightfully lauded for his X-and-O brilliance, for seeing and anticipating more than most of his peers in the history of the game, for establishing a program that has long stood for meticulous attention to detail and for committing fewer mistakes than the opponent.

The Patriot Way is, of course, The Belichick Way.

But Belichick quickly acknowledges all the success he has enjoyed, from his time as an assistant coach with the New York Giants to the six Super Bowls he won as head coach with the New England Patriots, has been shared with some of football’s all-time greats.

“I feel like I’ve coached the best offensive player, the best player in football in Tom (Brady); the best defensive player in football in L.T. (Lawrence Taylor) and the best special-teams player in football in Matt Slater,” Belichick told The 33rd Team’s Mike Tannenbaum. “If you’re a coach and you coach Taylor, Brady and Slater, that’s three pretty good players.”

Pretty good is putting it mildly, of course.

Tom Brady

Brady has won seven Super Bowls as a quarterback, six with the Patriots and one with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He owns practically every major passing record and is the league leader in career quarterback wins and Super Bowl MVP awards (three). Brady also has the most Pro Bowl selections (15) and was the first unanimous NFL MVP.

Lawrence Taylor

Taylor is also the only player to win the Associated Press NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in his rookie season in 1981. From 1984 through 1990, Taylor had double-digit sack seasons annually, including a career-high of 20.5 in 1986.

He’s one of only three players to win three AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards (J.J. Watt and Aaron Donald are the others). In 1986, he became the second defensive player to win the NFL MVP award (the other was Alan Page). No defensive player has done so since.

Matthew Slater

Slater has been with the Patriots since they made him a fifth-round draft pick from UCLA in 2008. He is widely regarded as one of the best gunners in league history. A three-time Super Bowl champion, he holds the record for most special teams Pro Bowl selections with 10.

Belichick recognizes that, while Brady and Taylor are undisputed icons, the conversation about Slater is slightly more wide-ranging. The Patriots coach has had other special-teams standouts in kickers Adam Vinatieri and Stephen Gostkowski. Returners Troy Brown and Julian Edelman with the Patriots, punters Sean Landeta and Dave Jennings, returner Dave Meggett and kick-coverage ace Rene Thompson with the Giants also deserve consideration.

“As a core special-teams player, Slater really is, you know … has been the best of all time,” Belichick said. “I hope he gets recognized for that.”

Vic Carucci has been a national editor for NFL.com and a contributor to NFL Network, a senior editor for the Cleveland Browns and an NFL writer and columnist for the Buffalo News. Follow him on Twitter at @viccarucci.