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Quarterback Tom Brady adds a layer of tape to his right ankle Wednesday before practice at Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. Much of Brady’s success this season can be traced to the play of New England’s offensive line.

PHOENIX — Dante Scarnecchia prefers to be in the shadows.

The offensive line coach for the undefeated New England Patriots sees no need to boast about his coaching, nor about the talent of his charges.

He has a simple reason why the Patriots' offense ran at a record-setting pace this year, why quarterback Tom Brady was sacked only 21 times in 578 pass attempts this year. He has a simple reason why three of the team's five starting offensive linemen were named to the Pro Bowl.

"I think I became a better coach, they became better players, when (Brady) became our quarterback," said Scarnecchia. "It's the honest to God truth."

That, friends, is Dante Scarnecchia. He has been with the Patriots for 24 seasons, the last nine spent coaching the offensive line. He also holds the title of assistant head coach, meaning if anything happened to Bill Belichick -- say, a suspension -- he would assume head coach duties.

Overall, he said, he's coached 37 years. Not bad for someone who had dreams of being a high school football coach and history teacher.

"I never did any of either one of those two," he told a small gathering of media members at the Patriots' interview session Wednesday. "My road took a different path."

Then, almost apologetically, he added, "I really don't want to make this about me."

But when you talk about the Patriots' offensive line and its success in both protecting Brady this season or opening up huge holes for running backs Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk, it all starts and ends with Scarnecchia.

"He demands a lot, he yells at you, but at the same time he's got a lot of respect for what you do," said center Dan Koppen. "We understand that he wants (us) to get better. And when you have a coach that coaches you with everything he's got every day, there's a lot of respect for him."

Perhaps no lineman has been helped more by Scarnecchia than right guard Stephen Neal. A college wrestler, Neal had never played the position until he came to the Patriots.

Scarnecchia credits Neal's natural athletic abilities and his aggressive nature with speeding the process. Neal said that Scarnecchia was the biggest factor in his development.

"He doesn't accept the fact that you're making mistakes, doesn't accept the fact that I got beat on this play," said Neal. "He demands the best from you on every play. And even if you do a good job and your technique could be a little cleaner, he's going to let you know."

Yes, he is demanding. Sometimes he cusses the players. Often he praises them. Defensive line coach Pepper Johnson calls him a "throwback."

"He gets everything out of his guys," said Johnson. "He sits back and requests a lot of their time, keeps them in meeting rooms, on the field, always doing something in blocking and schemes. They're definitely an extension of him."

His players, knowing how much Scarnecchia puts into the team, will do anything for him. He arrives around 3 a.m. each day and goes home, he said, "whenever you get done."

That translates into about four hours of sleep a night during the season. More than enough, he said. He likes being in his Gillette Stadium office when no one else is around.

"I like the quiet and solitude of that time," he said. "I know it just helps me."

Scarnecchia, who turns 60 on Feb. 15, was raised in Los Angeles. He played offensive guard at California Western University.

"I was a watch-charm guard," he said, noting his playing weight was 185 pounds. "You know what a watch-charm guard is? So small that you could put it on your charm bracelet."

He was also a reserve in the Marines for six years.

He coached offensive linemen in college, then jumped to the pros in 1982. Other than a two-year stint with the Indianapolis Colts in 1989-90, he's been with the Patriots.

He doesn't see his career as being...