A meeting was held on Tuesday, January 9th between Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick to figure out what the future would look like for the Patriots Organization. Within two days, it was announced that Belichick was no longer the head coach of the Patriots. A surprising decision for many Patriots fans who have only respect for the coach who has changed the entire organization. “Harsh”, “undeserving”, and “disrespectful”, flood the comments of the announcement.
Reaching 9 Super Bowls and winning 6 of them, winning Coach of the Year 3 times, having 17 division titles, and 31 playoff wins proved to fall short as a decision on Bill Belichick’s future was made early Thursday(1/11) morning. Belichick is referred to by many as the greatest coach of all time. However, with the ever growing expectations of a coach in the NFL, Belichick falls short and the New England Patriots organization agrees. With the decision to part-ways, the question remains, what is the future for Bill Belichick?
Many speculations have emerged and many people are wondering if this is the end for Belichick and his career. Until the Patriots and Belichick parted ways, he was the oldest coach in the league at 71 years old. With the average age of an NFL coach being 48 years old, questions of retirement quickly began circulating. People say that he should be proud of what he has accomplished in his 24 years of coaching the Patriots, that he was the best to ever do it. But was it enough for Belichick? Would he be content with retirement? Could a 4-13 season be the last season of his career? Sitting 15 wins away from breaking the All-Time Wins Record, many think he will stay at least another season or two.
The single best feeling of any coach in the NFL is winning games and proving you are the best on the big stage. Belichick has been in the spotlight for nearly his entire career with his first Superbowl win coming during his second season of coaching. With quarterback Tom Brady and 4x First-team All-Pro Tight End, Robert Gronkowski, the Patriots became an unstoppable force for nearly two decades. Gronkowski and Brady were traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February 2020 where they went on to win a Super Bowl the following year.
Many people wondered if it was the work of Brady and Gronkowski that allowed for the Patriots’ major success and less of how Bill Belichick worked as a coach. After they were traded, Belichick went 25-25, with just a .5000 win rate. This led many to question, “what is Belichick without Brady at quarterback?” But it is also important to ask, where would Brady’s career have gone if not for the coaching of Belichick? The ultimate test of Belichick’s coaching abilities: being placed as the coach of another team.
With such a positive reputation around the league and outstanding resume, another option for Belichick is to interview for the head coach position for other teams around the league. Teams such as the Commanders and Raiders are “hoping to get a chance to meet with Belichick”. It is likely that Belichick’s coaching career is not nearly over yet because many teams would be extremely lucky to land Belichick as their head coach.
Over the next few days, Belichick will likely speak up about his plans for the future of his career. Within weeks, a decision will be made. All in all, it will be interesting to see where Belichick ends up and what he chooses to do.
Feature image credit: Sporting News