Bill Belichick is considered one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. The former New England Patriots head coach owns a 302-165 regular-season record, which ranks third all time. He is also 31-13 in the playoffs and has six Super Bowl trophies to show for it.
So why isn’t he still in the NFL?
After 24 seasons with the Patriots, Belichick and owner Robert Kraft mutually agreed to part ways following the 2023 season. Unfortunately, that split has since turned into a public — albeit passive-aggressive — back-and-forth between the two that has grown uglier over time.
Belichick did attempt to remain in the NFL. He interviewed with multiple teams that had head coaching openings in 2024, but nothing ever materialized. Instead, he did the unthinkable and took a job at the University of North Carolina. His transition to college football, however, hasn’t gone as smoothly as many expected.
In his first season in Chapel Hill, Belichick’s Tar Heels finished 4-8 — two fewer wins than predecessor Mack Brown had the year before. Still, speculation about Belichick returning to the NFL has never really gone away.
Bill Belichick Linked to Falcons, Two Other NFL Teams
One of the teams Belichick interviewed with during the 2024 hiring cycle was the Atlanta Falcons. That interview came just days after the Falcons fired Arthur Smith and marked Belichick’s first official meeting with a team following his Patriots exit. Atlanta even acknowledged the interview publicly on social media.
Ultimately, the Falcons went with Raheem Morris, who is now in the middle of his second season as head coach in 2025. The results haven’t been encouraging. Morris is 13-18 overall and will fail to snap Atlanta’s playoff drought, which now stands at eight straight seasons.
That underwhelming record has placed Morris’ job status firmly under the microscope. On December 18, NFL insider Josina Anderson reported that the Falcons are one of several teams that have expressed interest in speaking with Belichick on an “exploratory basis.”
“My understanding is Belichick has upper-level personnel still fond of him in Atlanta, New York, Cleveland, whilst all struggling teams going through customary evaluations this time of year,” Anderson posted on X.
Of the teams mentioned, only the New York Giants have officially fired their head coach, moving on from Brian Daboll. Morris and Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski still have games remaining this season to make their case.
Raheem Morris’ Job Is Up in the Air
What Falcons owner Arthur Blank ultimately decides to do with Morris remains unclear. What is clear is that the 2025 season did not go as planned. Atlanta will once again miss the playoffs and, despite potentially finishing with a top-10 record in the draft order, won’t have a first-round pick to show for it.
That’s because the Falcons traded their 2026 first-round pick to the Los Angeles Rams in last year’s draft to move back into the opening round and select edge rusher James Pearce Jr.
Morris and the Falcons did pull off a surprising win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15, albeit in ugly fashion, committing 19 penalties for 125 yards. Morris now has three games left — against the Arizona Cardinals, Rams, and New Orleans Saints — that may only matter in the context of whether he can save his job.
If Blank has indeed lost patience and decides to move on from Morris, revisiting the Belichick option would come with heavy scrutiny. First, because it would raise the question of why Blank didn’t make that move in the first place — similar to the questions asked when Morris wasn’t retained after his interim stint in 2020. Second, at 83 years old, Blank likely understands there isn’t much time left if he wants to see the Falcons become legitimate contenders again.
Falcons Still ‘Fond’ of Bill Belichick, Putting Raheem Morris’ Job in Doubt