Microsoft Calls NFL Games A 'Complex Environment' For Surface, Doesn't Mention Patriots Coach Belichick

Without mentioning New England Patriots Coach Bill Belichick by name, Microsoft on Friday offered its longest response yet following the legendary coach's pledge to ditch the use of Microsoft Surface tablets on the sidelines of NFL games.

In a blog post, Microsoft said it wanted to weigh in after a week when Surface has been "at the center of the debate on the role of technology in the NFL."

[Related Video: Here's The Surface Tablet The Patriots Coach Hates So Much]

"We’ll continue to work with the NFL to address this complex environment and help the teams take advantage of cutting edge technology worthy of some of the best teams in sports," the company wrote in the post.

After saying he's had a string of issues with the technology, Belichick said Tuesday he "just can't take it anymore" and is now "done with the tablets."

In the following days, Microsoft has declined to say what it planned to do to solve the problems reported by Belichick and it didn't offer any specifics on that subject in its blog post.

Instead, the company discussed the type of work IT teams must do to enable technology use on the sidelines of games.

"Each week a team of NFL IT staff rolls out the equipment – sets it up to each team’s specifications; connects network and communications; tests the systems; simulates games between the test cameras and the video directors to test the systems end-to-end; recharges devices; ensures appropriate protection from all sorts of extreme weather conditions; and helps the coaches and players get familiar with the set-up," the company wrote. "It’s an ever-changing, fast-paced technical environment – truly one of the toughest IT jobs on one of the world’s biggest stages, with hundreds of millions of viewers watching."

Microsoft paid $400 million to the NFL in 2013 to put Surface tablets into the hands of coaches and players on the sidelines.

The five-year deal has made Microsoft "The Official Sideline Technology Sponsor of the NFL."

Microsoft said in its blog post that by using Surface devices to view photos on the sidelines, "teams can respond nearly in real-time – using Surface devices to view dynamic, full-color images, up to seven times faster than the printed page."

"Game analysis is more efficient, productive and competitive – enabling quicker decision making by coaches and players, in a game often decided by inches and seconds," the company said.

In January, Belichick said that issues with using the Surface were a "pretty common problem" and that "there's really nothing you can do." The comments followed a Surface outage—which the NFL attributed to network issues—during the Patriots' AFC Championship game against the Denver Broncos.

Earlier this month, Belichick was caught on camera throwing his Surface after appearing to become frustrated while swiping on the tablet.

On Tuesday, Belichick told reporters, "I just have given it my best shot. I've tried to work through the process. But it just doesn't work for me, and that's because there's no consistency" to using a tablet.

Belichick said he plans to use printed photos of plays on the sidelines instead, starting with the Patriots game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Situations like this involving a high-profile customer warrant that technology suppliers "move heaven and earth to make sure that person has a positive experience," Douglas Grosfield, the founder and CEO of Five Nines IT Solutions, a Kitchener, Ontario-based strategic service provider, told CRN earlier this week. "Why wouldn’t you bring your expertise to bear as a provider or vendor, to make sure that a high-profile customer is shouting from the rooftops, 'Hey, I love this stuff'? That's a heck of a missed opportunity."