With door to head-coaching job apparently shut, what will Bill Belichick do in 2024?
One of the greatest coaches of all time is unemployed. With the Falcons not hiring Bill Belichick, he might stay that way, for now.
So what will he do in 2024, if (as it appears) neither the Commanders nor the Seahawks will hire him?
The obvious option becomes television. Belichick received significant praise for his work on the NFL 100 All-Time Team show in 2019. When you peel him away from the role of coach, which causes him to be ultra-secretive and ultra-careful (and, in turn. ultra-boring when talking publicly), he can be very engaging and entertaining.
As one reader suggested, he could (and maybe should) look for a defense to coordinate. Wouldn't it be something if Belichick, say, the defensive coordinator in Miami?
Fascinating as it sounds, few coaches would be comfortable embracing someone who has grown accustomed to being fully in charge of a football operation. Belichick won't want — and possibly wouldn't be able — to take a backseat, to anyone. Perhaps he needs a large slice of humble pie in the form of a year out of football before he would be able to work within a structure that doesn't include Belichick calling all the shots.
It's human nature to acquire confidence that becomes delusion that becomes hubris after years of tremendous success. In March, when reporters asked Belichick what he would say to Patriots fans in order to get them to be optimistic for the 2023 season, Belichick said, "The last 25 years."
The last 25 years, indeed. Belichick's accumulated power over the last 25 years makes it harder for any team to put him in a spot where he would have less of it. Even if he accepted a job where someone else ran the draft and shaped the roster, could he resist what has become second nature to him? Specifically, could he accept the assessments that others make about a player, setting aside his own preferences and opinions?
And what if he just wanted to make a point, as he seemed to be doing at times with quarterback Mac Jones in 2022 and 2023? What if, for example, the General Manager drafted a player in the third round that Belichick didn't really want? What if Belichick took an "I'll show you" approach and never played the kid? Or never really tried to develop him?
None of the seven teams looking for a coach has been willing to assume that risk of Belichick with guardrails on his power. If you're going to let Belichick in the car, you have to be willing to give him the keys and disregard the map.
That said, there's still one potential hot spot to watch for 2024. On Thursday, Schefty "speculated" (some might call that "fan fiction") on the possibility of Chiefs coach Andy Reid retiring and Belichick becoming the next coach in Kansas City.
If Reid steps down (and no one knows whether he would; we've only said the possibility is on the team's radar screen), would the Chiefs want Belichick? Players might make a private and/or public push for Eric Bieniemy. Moreover, they might not want Belichick to install the Patriot Way, which would dramatically change the culture of a team that has been doing pretty well with its existing vibe.
Thus, it currently looks like one of the greatest coaches of all time won't be coaching in 2024. Whether a year off helps better position himself for another job in 2025 remains to be seen. The potential negative is that he'll be a year deeper into his seventies (and, yes, ageism can be a factor in the NFL). The potential positive is that he'll perhaps be a year humbler.
