Being too ambitious is a clever form of self-sabotage

That’s an odd take for a massively successful person. In the realm of producing hip-hop, his taste and skill are at the top of the industry.

Sort of like saying Bill Belichick has a skill gap because he’s not a top NFL player. AFAIK he never played pro ball at all (and college wasn’t at a top D1 program). Bit, he’s undeniably one of the most successful coaches in the business.

You’re saying the same thing as GP. Let me attempt to clarify.

What GP is saying is not that Rick Rubin has no skill anywhere, but that he recognized he has 100/100 taste and instead of trying to become a hip hop artist, instead became a producer for other artists.

In the same way, you’ve described how Bill Belichick recognized his taste in what makes a player good is not enough to make him also a good player, so he positioned himself to take advantage of his 100/100 taste rather than whatever skill value he may have.

As an aside, beleichick was a lacrosse player as a hobby/sport/passion, not an American football player. I’m very torn at the moment if he was an incredible coach or just rode the wave or Brady talent.

I pay a lot of attention to football as a hobby (and a gambling outlet) so these next two seasons at UNC for ‘ol Bill will be really telling.

> I’m very torn at the moment if he was an incredible coach or just rode the wave or Brady talent.

Honestly, it’s hard to imagine they’d have been anywhere near that successful if the answer wasn't just "both."

You see plenty of examples of great coaches stuck with lousy rosters (Parcells with the Cowboys), and also great players on poorly run teams (Patricia-era Lions). Usually when a team only has one or the other, they continually flame out early in the playoffs.

> these next two seasons at UNC for ‘ol Bill will be really telling.

I wouldn’t read too much into that. He’s 73, the game’s evolved a lot, and coaching college is a whole different thing from the NFL. It’s incredibly rare for someone to excel at both — guys like Pete Carroll being the exception that prove the rule.

Rick Rubin said this in a popular interview himself, fwiw.

Rubin was also in the right place at the right time.

Putting out Run-DMC – Raising Hell, Slayer – Reign in Blood and Beastie Boys – Licensed to Ill in the same year is completely insane but things are probably much different if he is 20 years older or 20 years younger. '

He was in the perfect place as hip hop and metal were taking off.

Exactly. It is such a stupid debate when Belichick coached and molded Brady into what he became.

Everyone has always said Belichick is basically an encyclopedia of football knowledge.

It’s weird to frame Belicheck as a talent picker first. Yes, he had a lot of control but he was a coach first, not a GM. The thing that made him extraordinary was not identifying talent it was orchestrating a team system to take advantage of individual talents. Compared to other coaches that had one system and tried to fit players rigidly into it, Belicheck was master of adapting the system to the personnel. Of course he also had Brady and a lot of control on personnel, but it’s ridiculous to speak as if it was primarily his taste that made the Patriots great.

I think by skill they mean that Rick Rubin plays no instruments and actively acknowledges this. In interviews he repeatedly claims his only skill is knowing what sounds good and will make money.

he also said he started always with anxiety, was pushing, working not in a comfort zone. For me this Looks very much like „do, learn“. Another Rick Rubim quote: Humanity breeds in the mistakes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brPHcAJn7ZU

That’s my whole point. Brady went on to win a ring in Tampa. Bill did… what?

I don’t give belicheck the credit for teaching Brady, you can’t teach that. It’s not stupid at all if you’re a fan of the sport.