Bill Belichick abandoned his love of one-word answers to gush about Thanksgiving potatoes

Bill Belichick is a master at hiding his emotions, but land on one of his passions and the man will suddenly transform. That happened Monday morning out of an unexpected place: Asking Belichick about his favorite Thanksgiving side dish.

Normally a master of one-word answers, Bill professed his love and appreciation for the potato. An unconditional love, because he accepts potatoes any way they enter his life.

“Oh boy. It would be hard for me to turn down any type of potatoes. I’ll go with whatever — mashed potatoes, scalloped, baked. Load ‘em up. Throw some butter on there. Starch me up.”

While I definitely could have lived the rest of my life happily without hearing Bill Belichick use the phrase “starch me up,” I do appreciate how much the man loves potatoes. Also, he’s 100 percent correct. It’s not like we need to wait until Thanksgiving to eat potatoes. Heck, they’re one of the easily side dishes you can prepare pretty much any time — but the Thanksgiving plate lends itself to offering flavor enhancers to take your potatoes to the next level. Turkey gravy, some cheese from the mac and cheese, maybe some errant herbs from the stuffing. It’s a taste sensation.

The only part I’m a little upset about is that Bill didn’t mention my absolute favorite potato preparation: Fondant potatoes. For real, if you have tried these you need to do it, like ... yesterday. This recipe from BBC has become my go-to, and I promise, these potatoes will change your life.

As the great Bill Belichick would say: Starch me up.