NFL Insider details reasons why former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is out of a job for the 2024 season
As crazy as it may seem, Bill Belichick will not be the head coach of an NFL team for the 2024 season. The six-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame coach mutually parted ways with the New England Patriots after 24 seasons. And while many thought he would be a hot commodity with […]
As crazy as it may seem, Bill Belichick will not be the head coach of an NFL team for the 2024 season.
The six-time Super Bowl champion and future Hall of Fame coach mutually parted ways with the New England Patriots after 24 seasons. And while many thought he would be a hot commodity with so many coaching openings, only one team showed serious interest.
So with that, The Athletic's Jeff Howe spoke with numerous sources across the league about why Belichick was not hired by another team.
The Atlanta Falcons were the only team to interview Belichick, but decided to hire Raheem Morris instead. And that's because both sides reportedly "expressed caution throughout the courting process."
"Sources close to Belichick also cited a frosty relationship with Falcons president Rich McKay as a primary reason the parties might have decided they could or should not work together," Howe wrote. "But more than anything, the Falcons were wholly sold on Morris, according to a league source. Belichick’s resume will trump any coach’s — in a hiring process, or historically — but his past accomplishments mattered less to the Falcons compared with what they thought Morris could bring to their future."
However, Howe also added that some of the league sources he spoke to thought that there was a possibility the Patriots could have kept the long-time head coach. But that would have all centered around if Belichick was willing to make changes in the "personnel department, roster construction and his offensive vision."
While he said he was willing to do that when speaking to the media, what happened behind closed doors with Kraft is a whole different conversation.
And while his resume was elite, the quarterback situation also reportedly raised many red flags. That started when he let Tom Brady leave in free agency, and continued into his poor treatment of Mac Jones.
"Executives from opposing teams were also turned off by Belichick’s public alienation of Jones," Howe wrote.
But it was more than just that. After losing Brady and Josh McDaniels in back-to-back years, Belichick decided to bring back Matt Patricia and throw him into the offensive coordinator job. And we all know how that worked out. With that, there were also scouts who said that Belichick didn't truly listen to them, according to Howe.
So it seems he had the people he trusted, and wasn't willing to listen to anyone else.
The poor drafting and the inability to develop key offensive players were hard for executives to get past. And with that, there were some bad reviews from people who had worked with him in the past.
That made him a controversial hire for any organization. And no one this year wanted to take that chance.
Former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s future just got much clearer with latest NFL news
Didn’t see this coming.
