How Bill Belichick is reportedly handling search for next head coaching job
Belichick was passed over by the one team that's interviewed him so far this offseason, the Falcons.
As the reality is starting to set in that Bill Belichick likely won’t be a head coach for an NFL team in 2024, the former Patriots head coach seems to be OK with that.
People close to Belichick believe that he’s seeking the right position and not just willing to latch onto the first opportunity he gets, ESPN’s Mike Reiss reported Sunday.
“Those familiar with Belichick’s thinking relay that he believes having no job is a better result than a job that wasn’t the right fit,” Reiss wrote in his Sunday notes column. “So it seems safe to say he’ll be motivated to find the right one in the future.”
That kind of thinking could explain why Belichick has only interviewed with one team this offseason. The Falcons were the only team to speak with Belichick for their head coaching vacancy, meeting with the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach twice in the eight days after he parted ways with the Patriots.
Belichick was even viewed as the frontrunner to get the Falcons head coaching job. However, his candidacy seemed to lose steam in the days after his second interview before Atlanta named Raheem Morris its next head coach on Thursday.
The breakdown in Belichick’s candidacy appeared to be related to his desire to have similar power with the Falcons that he had with the Patriots for the last 24 years. Belichick was seeking to have full jurisdiction over football operations, personnel, and coaching, Yahoo! Sports’ Charles Robinson reported. In addition to serving as the Patriots’ head coach for the last 24 years, Belichick was also the de facto general manager.
With the Falcons’ job off the board, only two head coaching vacancies remain: the Seahawks and Commanders. But the Commanders have been heavily linked to Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and the Seahawks haven’t interviewed Belichick as their search has been going on for over two weeks.
Of course, Belichick would also have to be interested in wanting to interview with those teams as well. There have been a couple of reports that signaled what he could be looking for in his next team. Belichick is believed to be targeting “talented, yet underachieving teams,” ESPN’s Jeremey Fowler reported earlier in January. Additionally, Belichick is “believed to be done with ‘big-market media,'” Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio also reported earlier in January.
Belichick, who turns 72 in April, also hasn’t had the most impressive stretch since Tom Brady left in 2020. The Patriots have gone 29-38 over the last four regular seasons, making the playoffs just once in that stretch before going 4-13 this season, which could be deterring teams from hiring him as well.
What’s next for Belichick remains to be seen. He could get a TV job though, and try his luck again to land a head coaching gig in the 2025 offseason, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported.
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