Patriots owner opens up his playbook

When Robert Kraft achieved his dream of owning the New England Patriots in 1994, a sparkling new stadium was in the works and the team’s books seemed to be in order too.

The son of a dressmaker, Kraft had grown up in the Boston area before heading off to Columbia University, where he played football. But in 1963, Kraft left his gridiron dreams behind and headed for the Harvard Business School, the first stop in a business career that began with his founding International Forest Products, one of the world’s largest traders of paper and wood. Today, that company is part of a diverse mix of businesses called the Kraft Group, with annual sales of more $1 billion.

Kraft added the New England Patriots to that mix, and turned his attention to building the team’s record to match the success of his other holdings. To do so, Kraft turned his attention to the Patriots own playbook and made his most important hire ever. In an almost unheard of move, Kraft gave up a first round draft choice for an unproven coach named Bill Belichick.

Belichick was a mercurial manager who’d previously worked as a Patriots assistant coach, but in five years as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, he had only one winning season. Still, Kraft recognized Belichick’s management savvy — including an undergraduate degree in economics — and knew they would click.

CNBC: You didn’t see his record, necessarily, you saw something beyond that. Because he had limited success as a head coach before that — you saw something there.

KRAFT:  Well, in all our businesses, we try to find people who fit in with our culture and our chemistry and can we get along with them, do they have the intelligence we want. You know, in life there’s a certain simpatico that you feel when you choose your life partner — it usually goes that way. And in key strategic positions you don’t read about it in the textbook, it’s really your gut or your nose, something just tells you, "I think this can fit for what I want in our system."

And Belichick has fit brilliantly despite, or because of, a famously taciturn temperament — especially with the media. He agreed to sit down with CNBC to talk about the man who signs his checks.

CNBC: What kind of boss is Bob Kraft?

Belichick: My relationship with Mr. Kraft is more as a partner … you know, certainly he’s the boss; he owns the team. But we work more as partners in terms of trying to do things together in the best interest of the football team and the organization.

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CNBC:  When you come on the field before a game, the first person you come and greet is Mr. Kraft. You have a pretty good relationship, you’re pretty comfortable around each other.

BELICHICK: Well, we’ve worked together here for eight years. And then, prior to that in 1996, so we’ve been together for quite awhile and know each other well. I think (we) have a good working relationship and a good personal relationship. He’s a funny guy; he’s a good man to be around. I enjoy his company and we’ve had a lot of success together.

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