Bill Belichick didn't win Super Bowl XL, as his New England Patriots were denied the opportunity to win their third consecutive Super Bowl after losing to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the 2005 AFC playoffs. But Belichick still played a role in which did team hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy at season's end.

Bill Cowher, in an interview with Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, revealed that Belichick volunteered information about the Broncos prior to Pittsburgh's 34-17 victory over Denver in the '05 AFC Championship Game. Pittsburgh then went onto defeat the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XL, 21-10.

“He helped a lot in Super Bowl XL,” Cowher said from Atlanta, the site of Super Bowl LIII that will pit Belichick's Patriots against the Los Angeles Rams. Belichick and the Patriots are one Super Bowl win away from matching Pittsburgh's record of six Super Bowl titles. “When they lost to Denver,” Cowher said, “Bill called me up and said ‘Hey, congratulations, good luck, do you need anything? Want to know anything on Denver?’ ”

Belichick's advice certainly helped, as the Steelers never trailed and led by as many as 21 points while getting their second ever playoff victory in the Mile High City. Ben Roethlisberger enjoyed a masterful afternoon, completing 21-of-29 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a score as the Steelers' offense piled up 358 total yards. Pittsburgh's defense, arguably the NFL's best during that time, picked off Broncos' quarterback Jake Plummer twice while holding Denver's offense to just 16 first downs. Cowher, after losing his previous three AFC title games, was heading to his second Super Bowl as Pittsburgh's head coach.

While Belichick didn't offer any specific advice about the Seahawks, he did help Cowher manage other aspects of coaching in the Super Bowl in the days leading up to Super Bowl XL. Cowher's last Super Bowl appearance had come a decade earlier, as Pittsburgh fought but ultimately fell to the heavily favored Dallas Cowboys, 27-17.

“Yeah, he really did [help]," Cowher said of Belichick. "He said at halftime, take your pads off. Put some food in there. It’s a long halftime. It’s like two different games [regular season versus Super Bowl]. I never thought about it that way, never looked at it that way.

“I didn’t know about the [long] pregame. I called him up about the pregame, little things about the week. It’s a different game day.”

While this probably won't change Pittsburgh's perception of Belichick, it does reveal the amount of respect Belichick has for Cowher, who was on the ballot for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. It also shows that, while he is a fierce competitor, Belichick certainly doesn't mind helping those that he respects within the coaching profession.