Bill Belichick on Peyton Manning:

"He is definitely the best quarterback I've coached against. When it came to control and decisionmaking in an offensive system, Manning was on his own level in any era. There have been quarterbacks who called their own plays but it was nowhere near the same as what he did. He basically called every play by adjusting and/or changing the play once he saw what the defense was doing. He excelled at using the cadence and recognizing blitzes and more than any one single offensive player, he forced us to change and adapt defensive gameplans."

Bill Belichick on Bill Cowher:

"Bill had a tremendous NFL career that encompassed a lot – player, assistant coach, coordinator and head coach. He was a great defensive coach. Schematically his teams were one of the very best over the course of two decades. Our teams had some fiercely competitive battles that made me a better coach. I admire and learned from his complete mastery of coaching essentials – motivation, strategy, fundamentals and physical play. Bill and I have been close friends for 35 years and I couldn't be happier for him.

Bill Belichick on Jimmy Johnson:

"Jimmy's command of personnel, coaching, trades and the draft made him one of the all-time master team builders. He took a team from 1-15 and turned it into a three-time Super Bowl champion. Jimmy's defenses – his 4-3 split safety scheme - were as good as I have coached against. His energy and passion for football were evident in the elite performance of his championship teams at the collegiate and professional levels. Jimmy is a great friend who has given me a lot of good advice throughout much of my career.

Bill Belichick on Cowher/Johnson:

"Both coaches left their team in a strong place as evidenced by the championships won just a short time after they left. Jimmy and Bill each had a lot to do with building those championship teams."