Bill Belichick leaving New England was surprising, even if it felt inevitable. Bill Belichick not finding a head coach this offseason was downright shocking. But it shouldn’t be a surprise if the greatest coach of all time finds himself on another side next season.
Belichick is not doing a retirement media tour this year. If a coach feels he’s done for good, he does one pregame show and finds time for golf and fishing. Belichick has several TV shows, shoots Underdog commercials and leaves the sidelines of “Monday Night Football” to break down games in real time on the “ManningCast.”
He is everywhere. We should appreciate it, too, because a Hall of Fame coach in his prime doing all the media coverage Belichick does will probably never happen again. But it’s pretty clear he’ll be back in 2025 if the right opportunity presents itself.
The early returns offer some really interesting opportunities for the eight-time (including supporting gigs) Super Bowl winner Let’s handicap where he might end up.
Sitting at 0-3 after a blowout Monday night in Buffalo, the Jaguars are back in crisis mode. Trevor Lawrence looks like a league-average quarterback, despite signing a massive deal this offseason. Doug Pederson’s postgame press conferences aren’t exactly inspiring. Trent Baalke — as my friend Pete Prisco pointed out this week — needs to have a microscope on his decision-making. He infamously managed to win a power play against Jim Harbaugh and sent the 49ers spiraling about a decade ago. Shad Khan should have a microscope on his general manager now. Belichick would fit very well here in terms of what he’s looking for. The Jaguars’ results don’t match Khan’s ownership style. He delegates to football people and is patient. Belichick would have the personnel control he wants, a potential franchise quarterback with plenty of untapped potential and he would maximize the defensive talent. In a division that isn’t making a leap like we thought, this could work really well.
If you see any betting odds, the Cowboys will probably be the “favorite”. I can see it happening, mostly because Bill Parcells took the job back in 2003 and spent four years working with Jerry Jones, making the playoffs twice despite having Quincy Carter, Vinny Testaverde and Drew Bledsoe as his quarterbacks for three of four years (he should have started Tony Romo earlier!). I would expect his experience in Dallas to influence Belichick’s decision here, as two of Bill’s Super Bowls came as the defensive coordinator his mentor. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are locked into long-term deals and Micah Parsons will get paid at some point. The Cowboys have been a very good defensive team with good defensive coaching and Belichick will bring that. Mike McCarthy is already sitting on a stove. If he loses Thursday night against Danny Dimes and the Giants, he’s basically a human version of the “This Is Fine” meme.
New York Giants
Buzz was building before Week 3 about Brian Daboll having locker room issues. Belichick has coached in New York before. There’s no quarterback in place, but if the Giants season submarines, they’d have a good draft pick with a TBD QB class on deck. John Mara has been extremely, um, active as an owner in recent years, which could potentially create a problem, but he also allowed Joe Schoen enough freedom to let Saquon Barkley enter in free agency and given Belichick’s history in New York, he probably would be relinquish control. That defensive line under Belichick would be a straight-up problem and the right offensive hiring plus quarterback plus Malik Nabers (top-10 NFL wideout three games into his career) would be spicy.
Longer shot, but the start to 2024 does the current regime no favors at all. Belichick also talked about this team on ManningCast specifically, pointing out the offensive line problems (and concluding the investments in wide receivers created the current problem). We don’t know how he feels about Caleb Williams, but the idea of a built-in talented defense with a No. 1 quarterback/perhaps a generational talent at quarterback has to be appealing. The Bears have a funky setup with ownership and a front office that might scare him away, but they might be willing to go all out for someone of Belichick’s stature. The NFC North is shaping up to be extremely tough this year. If the Bears fall dramatically short, it wouldn’t be so wild to consider someone with a history of winning big in cold weather for this gig.
SUPER long shot mainly because the ownership group in Cincy is hesitant to move on from coaches. Zac Taylor was in college when his predecessor Marvin Lewis was hired in Cincy. They’ve had six coaches since 1984. That’s a weekend for David Tepper. But they are 0-3 and have an elite, franchise quarterback. Things are going very badly for this team. The defense hasn’t been the same over the last two years and it doesn’t look like it will turn the corner in 2024. I think Belichick might look at this team more favorably than the general public. from a historical perspective. Joe Burrow is a top three quarterback when he “goes” and that’s a rare positive to find with a potential touchdown. There is a big investment in this team with Burrow and another disappointing season could raise the pressure on Taylor, especially if the offense falters after losing its offensive coordinator.
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