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Bill Belichick's media blitz: Seeking next coaching job or settling all family business?

25 October 2024Last Update :
Bill Belichick's media blitz: Seeking next coaching job or settling all family business?

During “Monday Night Football” on Oct. 14, Peyton Manning teed up Bill Belichick for a reaction to the New York Jets’ firing of coach Robert Saleh, the kind of moment tailormade for ESPN’s “Manningcast,” and the exact reason they’ve made the legendary New England Patriots coach a fixture during their broadcasts.

Belichick didn’t miss a beat. He wanted so badly to get his dig in on the Jets organization — and their owner Woody Johnson — that he briefly talked over Manning to ensure he had the floor.

“That’s kind of what it’s been there with the Jets,” Belichick said. “They’ve barely won over 30 percent (of their games) in the last 10 years. The owner being the owner, just ready, fire, aim.”

In the micro sense, Belichick was doing what he’s done so often, sticking up for coaches he thinks are fired too quickly. At his root, he’s still a coach’s son who grows frustrated whenever the people at the highest level of the profession aren’t given what he sees as adequate time to do their jobs.

But in the bigger picture, it was another example of how Belichick has used this forced hiatus from coaching. His transition into a member of the media with a dizzying number of obligations has turned a figure known for his coachspeak (“It is what it is.”) into one who’s suddenly candid and transparent. What’s on display is a 72-year-old with plenty to say trying to get even with past rivals while setting himself up to land a new head-coaching job where he can earn the 15 remaining victories he needs to supplant Don Shula as the NFL’s all-time wins leader (including postseason games).

The 2024 season isn’t even halfway over and Belichick has already shown glee in mocking the hated Jets for their continued ineptitude; contributed to a mini-feud with the Patriots despite his so-called “mutual” breakup with owner Robert Kraft and the franchise 10 months ago; and noted with delight that the Atlanta Falcons, the team that decided not to hire him last offseason despite a lengthy interview, had to forfeit a draft pick because of offseason violations by the front office.

Still, it’s important to understand two bits of context when digesting all Belichick has said in recent weeks.

The first is that Belichick is one of the game’s greatest grudge-holders. Heck, part of the reason he wants Shula’s wins record, even after lapping his contemporaries with accomplishments no one else can sniff — six Super Bowl titles as a head coach and two more as an assistant — is that Shula, a man for whom Belichick once had great reverence, disparaged what the Patriots built, calling their accomplishments “tainted” by Spygate.

He’s fueled by getting back at those who have wronged him, doubted him or tried to diminish what he has accomplished. Channeled and at its best, that animosity helped Belichick win like no one else, creating a sense within his teams that no one believed in them even as the Lombardi Trophies piled up.

Those grudges are to blame — or thank, depending on your perspective — for Belichick’s plethora of viral comments since his new media gigs kicked in.

His insults at the expense of the Jets (and to a lesser extent the Falcons) fall into this bucket. He has a 25-year distaste for the Jets going back to when he was (very) briefly their head coach before bolting over concerns about Johnson and the other ownership group trying to buy the team. As Patriots coach, he took great delight in dominating them, winning 15 straight in the rivalry at one point, a streak that ended in Belichick’s last game with New England in January. Now he takes delight in needling the Jets (read: Johnson) for the fact that they are once again struggling despite having Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.

“The Jets are the Jets, and Woody is Woody,” Belichick said earlier this week on “The Pat McAfee Show,” trying to make sense of their struggles.

The second factor to keep in mind is Belichick’s desire to keep coaching. He never wanted a year off. After splitting with the Patriots in January, he was ready to head elsewhere. He was excited at the chance of taking over in Atlanta, at one point dining on Falcons owner Arthur Blank’s yacht to discuss the move. However, Blank chose instead to keep his front office intact and hire Raheem Morris, who had a 17-31 career record as a full-time head coach.

Part of the reason the Falcons — and perhaps other teams — were apprehensive about hiring Belichick last offseason is that he runs a team in an all-encompassing sort of way.  In New England, he famously served as the head coach and de facto general manager. He made all of the on-field decisions and was in charge of all aspects of football operations. So some of his comments are likely his attempt at reminding owners he’s still capable in both areas.

That’s why after Kraft said last week that he wished there were more checks and balances on Belichick’s decision-making, it was only natural that Belichick would respond.

“The Patriots (have) got a lot of questions to answer — between the head coach and the atmosphere and who’s soft and who’s not soft,” Belichick said on his podcast “Coach with Bill Belichick.”

So while his shots at the Patriots, which ramped up this week, are partly because he’s resentful after being shown the door, it’s also to remind others that the Patriots weren’t this bad when he was the coach.

It’s also worth noting that it wasn’t really Belichick’s coaching that led to his struggles and eventual breakup with the Patriots, but his front office decisions and personnel choices on the offensive side of the ball. His inability to fix the offense after Tom Brady left might be why some owners were leery of hiring Belichick to lead their team.

So perhaps his comments on the Falcons fall into this bucket, too, reminding fans (and team owners) that Blank and his front office made a serious mistake when they chose not to let him run the show.

Belichick’s media blitz may only last a couple more months. After that, he’ll renew his search for a coaching job. But until then, expect him to make a lot more headlines. The old coach has a lot to say, and he’s not afraid to say it.

(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

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