As Gillette Stadium hosts America's Game this Saturday, two pillars of the Patriots organization will be back from "Thursday Night Football" in time to welcome the iconic college football matchup to New England.
Ahead of the 124th annual Army-Navy game, team chairman and CEO Robert Kraft and head coach Bill Belichick will make guest appearances on "College GameDay," ESPN announced on Thursday evening.
Additionally, Belichick will serve as the "guest picker" for the show, joining Rece Davis, Demond Howard, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso in offering their win predictions for the slate of college football games on that given day.
With a light schedule of FBS matchups, it's not hard to imagine which team sways Belichick.
His father, Steve Belichick, was a World War II Navy veteran and spent about 30 years as a coach and scout at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Patriots coach was born and learned to love the game.
That being said, Belichick will likely be a little biased to the Midshipmen.
"I don't know who I like, but I know who I'm pulling for -- no doubt about that," Belichick said back in August during training camp practices when asked about the game.
Hosting the Army-Navy game in New England is especially fitting this year, considering several notable milestones for Massachusetts and the United States next year, with the 250th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party and the 225th anniversary of the USS Constitution's maiden voyage and the commissioning of the USS Massachusetts as a Navy vessel being celebrated in 2023.
"I think it will be a great experience for the people in this area," Belichick added.
"It's a classic. There's no other game like that. Watching it on tv is great but being there in person is really special. This is great venue for it. I think for Navy, it'll be a great opportunity to travel, obviously, but see the things that are important to the Navy -- Newport, the Navy Yard in Boston, things like that. It's just kind of a lot of Navy connections here in this general area. I think that they plan some events and things like that. I'm not sure exactly. It's not really my thing but it sounds like it'll be more than just a game for Navy to make the trip up here. It'll be environment, great opportunity and it'll be great for the fans in New England to see that. It's really a classic."
In addition to attending the game and joining the pregame show, Belichick is also expected to speak to the Navy football team on Friday night ahead of the game, according to Navy coach Brian Newberry.
