Ahead of Las Vegas party, Gronk says Belichick still ‘the greatest’

Rob Gronkowski says, “He’s got a lot left in the tank.”

Gronk is not speaking about himself in this instance, though he could be. He is referring to his former head coach with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick.

“He still has a lot of energy to coach,” Gronkowski said in a Zoom chat Wednesday afternoon. “He’s the greatest coach of all time, and he’s going to continue his success.”

Gronk was on the chat to promote his Super Bowl music festival and poolside party, “Gronk Beach.” The event overtakes Encore Beach Club at Wynn Las Vegas from noon-6 p.m. Feb. 10 Pacific time (Tickets and VIP tables at gronkbeach.com; general admission prices start at $74.99, in very limited supply and go up as the event nears).

Dutch DJ and producer Afrojack, a personal favorite of Gronk, headlines. Another unbilled headliner, a singer, is being brought in. Gronk Beach has sold out swiftly in Miami in 2020, Phoenix in 2023, and also during the NFL Draft in Las Vegas in 2022, also at Encore Beach Club.

The event is produced by the event operators at Medium Rare, also staging Shaquille O’Neal’s “Fun House” festival Feb. 9 at XS Nightclub.

Gronk beam when he talks of coming back to Vegas. His timing is apt, as the coach for whom he won three of his four Super Bowl titles seems about to be hired by the Falcons.

“I don’t see why there’s a team out there that wouldn’t want him as a head coach,” Gronkowski said. “I think the Falcons would be a great fit for Coach Belichick, along with a couple other teams, like the Los Angeles Chargers. I think he’s going to a team with a lot of talent that under-performed, and he’s going to get that team to over-perform.”

Asked what makes Belichick an effective coach, Gronkowski said, “He’s a great motivator. He loves to get in your head, he loves to critique you. He can make you super mad in meetings or in one-on-one conversations, so you want to go out and prove that he was wrong about you.”

Gronk threw his opinion into the conversation about the Raiders head-coaching search.

“I really like Antonio Pierce as the head coach. I think he did a great job,” Gronkowski said. “I think he represents the Raiders organization very well, with how he handled himself throughout the process of being the interim head coach. I think he should get the job. The players were playing for him. Maxx Crosby certainly wants him to stay.”

Gronkowski said he hopes the Bills make it out of the AFC and advance to the Super Bowl on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium.

“I’m going with my hometown team, the Buffalo Bills, this week. I finally think they’re going to take down the Chiefs,” the great tight end and party purveyor said. “The crowd in Buffalo is going to be absolutely electric. I hope the Bills do get to the Super Bowl, because we want to make ‘Gronk Beach’ the official Bills Mafia Super Bowl party.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.