Getty Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick (left) and quarterback Tom Brady
Hard to believe that it has only been a month since the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick parted ways, and especially surprising that, no matter how fervently the rumor mill has churned, the coach has not wound up with a job. Seven NFL teams besides the Patriots have hired new coaches, and none were a fit for Belichick, who is one of just three coaches with 300 wins and is just 27 wins shy of passing Don Shula for the most in NFL history.
Maybe that should not be a surprise given that the Patriots were 4-13 and headed backwards last year. But for Tom Brady, the quarterback who spent 20 years playing for Belichick in New England, the raw fact that Belichick is likely to spend 2024 unemployed in the NFL is an eyebrow-raiser.
“I’m surprised that the greatest coach ever doesn’t have a job,” told Jim Gray on the “Let’s Go!” podcast, where he was hosting legendary quarterback Steve Young. “Absolutely, but, I’m surprised by a lot of things in the NFL. When I was a free agent, there was a lot of teams that didn’t want me. I’m surprised that Steve Young started in the USFL and went to Tampa, I’m surprised that Tampa traded Steve Young to the 49ers.
“So, you know, there’s a lot of things that happen that, for one reason or another, don’t go exactly the way you think they should go.”
Falcons Owner: Bill Belichick Did Not Ask for Control
The fact that a coach with Belichick’s record was not able to land a job made more sense in the light of suggestions—most recently from ex-quarterback and analyst Boomer Esiason—that Belichick had been offered the Falcons job after an extensive series of interviews with owner Arthur Blank and others in the organization last month. Esiason and others said that Belichick had turned down the job.
But Blank, on Friday, said that was not the case. The Falcons hired Raheem Morris instead.
“Bill, during all of our discussions with him, it was never about power, control, needing people to work for him, etc. He was interested in coaching,” Blank said, per NFL.com.
“He definitely wanted a collaborative relationship with personnel, scouting. He had done his reference checking on our department, had committed to me that he’d be happy to work with our people. In fact, did it in writing through a text message he sent to me at one point. Bill was really focused and is focused on being a great head coach, which is clearly what he has been.”
Chiefs Rumors Still Lingering
Still, it is unlikely that we have seen the last of Belichick in the NFL, whether that happens sooner or later.
The rumor that it could happen sooner is based on the notion that Chiefs coach Andy Reid could retire if Kansas City wins the Super Bowl on Sunday. If that happens, the thinking goes, Belichick would step in to replace Reid. It’s a purely speculative idea at this point, floated by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and Reid has given no indication he would leave his post.
The other possibility is that Belichick simply bides his time and comes back in 2025, when, perhaps, jobs like that of the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, the Dallas Cowboys or the Buffalo Bills could come open.