Peter King said Bill Belichick may need to rehab his image if he wants to coach in the NFL again
"America, and NFL owners, know him as dour, sour and imperious. Not great traits in modern-day coaching particularly with a 29-39 record in his last four seasons."
Bill Belichick is coming off one of the worst seasons of his lengthy head coaching career. This past season is the only time during Belichick’s run as an NFL head coach when his team had failed to win five games in a season.
Belichick’s teams have finished under .500 for three of the past four seasons, including New England’s 4-13 mark this year.
He missed out on the Falcons opening, which was the only job he has reportedly interviewed for. Atlanta picked Raheem Morris, who has a career 21-38 record as a head coach, over the six-time Super Bowl champion Belichick.
NFL insiders, such as Ian Rapoport and Adam Schefter, are already talking about the possibility that Belichick won’t get a job during this hiring cycle.
So, if things end up that way, what should Belichick’s next move be?
Rich Eisen suggested that Belichick team up with Nick Saban for a “Coachcast.” The concept would be somewhat like the “Manningcast” on ESPN.
NBC Sports’s Peter King said he liked the idea. The time away from the sidelines, along with a new way to connect with audiences, could change the way people look at Belichick, King wrote.
“Find a network to stream it on,” King wrote. “Maybe on a CBS, Fox or NBC streaming service, or maybe as another stream for the Thursday night Amazon Prime game. Belichick, if he wants to coach in 2025 at age 73—and if someone will have him—could use a little image rehab. “
“America, and NFL owners, know him as dour, sour and imperious,” King added. “Not great traits in modern-day coaching, particularly with a 29-39 record in his last four seasons as coach. He can actually be glib and clever, in his way … he’s capable of cool.”
“One other theory I buy for the market being cool to him, is that most teams over the past decade have built staffs of football analytics people, with pipelines to the coaching staff and urging from management for coaches to use the work of these brainiacs. Belichick’s been lukewarm, at best, to analytics. So, an owner who hires Belichick might have to fire a part of the building in which they believe strongly.”
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