Will Bill Belichick coach in the National Football League again?
We don’t yet know that.
But we know this: the Belichick era in New England is over.
A 24-year run that included six Super Bowl championships and nine Super Bowl appearances officially ended today, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, a day after great college football coach and former Belichick protegee Nick Saban announced his retirement at the University of Alabama, after he finished his career with seven national titles (Nick Saban retires | The Football Beat).
Thing is, those six titles and nine appearances in football’s biggest game were just Belichick’s time in New England – he was great as Bill Parcells’ right-hand man with the New York Giants before he ever became a head coach, helping the Giants – with linebacker Lawrence Taylor and quarterback Phil Simms – to two championships, as well.
Belichick and Patriots owner Bob Kraft are set to have a joint press conference at 11 a.m. Central time.
Unlike Saban, though, Belichick may not announce his retirement. It’s possible, although no one knows how likely until we hear from him, that the 71-year-old might take one of the other seven NFL coaching vacancies and continue his pursuit of a Super Bowl elsewhere: joining the Patriots without head coaches right now are the Los Angeles Chargers, the Las Vegas Raiders, the Carolina Panthers, the Washington Commanders, the Atlanta Falcons, and now, the Seattle Seahawks, where another Super Bowl-winning coach, Pete Carroll, bowed out on Wednesday (Pete Carroll is out as head coach of the Seattle Seahawks after 14 seasons).
Belichick has 333 wins, just 14 behind the NFL’s all-time leader, the late Don Shula.
His drive after this season might have to be re-charged. The Patriots went 4-13 in Belichick’s last year, one win less than his previous worst seasons (5-11 as the Cleveland Browns’ head coach in 1995, then another 5-11 mark in 2000 in his first year coaching New England).
While fans will likely remember Belichick as the hoodie-wearing mad scientist roaming the sidelines, scowling during press conferences where he often gave one-word answers, and his penchant for always looking ahead (one of his most famous quotes is “We’re on to Cincinnati’ in recent years), his players, assistant coaches, Patriots management and opponents will remember Belichick for the meticulous attention to detail, and how he implemented the “Patriot Way,” although he may not have ever called it that.
With apologies to the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970s, the San Francisco 49ers of the 1980s, the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s and maybe even every dynasty across professional sports before them, the Patriots’ nine Super Bowl appearances in 24 years, six championships, 17 AFC East championships is, winning-wise, the greatest ever.
What ultimately did Belichick in was his final few seasons, a 29-38 record since his quarterback, Tom Brady, left and then won a Super Bowl in Tampa Bay, and his inability to right the Patriots’ ship and get them back to the postseason following Brady’s departure. Belichick went the last five seasons of his career without a playoff win.
It turned out that Belichick the coach was a hall-of-famer; Belichick, the general manager in charge of the Patriots’ draft and other personnel moves, was not.
Will Belichick return to the sidelines at age 71, perhaps with personnel control, or maybe just coaching?
We’ll all stay tuned.
