Gasper: Bill Belichick should make it public that he’s sitting out this year
Chris Gasper of The Boston Globe joined Felger and Mazz on Friday and discussed the latest with Bill Belichick in his search for a new head coaching role. Gasper gave his thoughts as to why Bill Belichick should sit the year out from coaching in 2024.
Should Bill Belichick take a year off?
Felger: What’s your take on the Belichick situation here….
Chris Gasper: Yeah, I sort of like debuted this viewpoint on this show a couple weeks ago, I told you he should take a beat, take a year off and he’d have more leverage at that point because some team might be more desperate and the stink of 4-13 would be off of him. And I think what’s happened here is the NFL is saying to him what he said to so many players over the years, which is, “you still got something in the tank, but it’s not as much as you think it is. You’re not as good as you think you are, and if you want to keep doing it, you have to do it on my terms, not yours”. I mean, he did that with a million players over the years, and now he’s sort of getting a taste of his own medicine at 71 and coming off a 29-39 record the last four years without Brady, including the playoff loss to Buffalo. I think owners and teams are less willing to disrupt their entire organization to bring in Bill Belichick.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 07: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks during a press conference after a game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Chris Gasper: And I think if this had been five, six, seven years ago, it would have been completely different. I think people would have been falling all over themselves. Arthur Blank, as loyal as he is to Rich McKay, and some of these other owners, as loyal as they are to some of their consiglieres, they would have thrown these people overboard to get Belichick. But now? Now they look at it and they say, “you know, not that much runway left at the end of day. And, what are we really getting? You know we know we’re getting a great x’s and o’s coach and someone who can really break down an opposing team, but is he going to relate to the young players on the team? Do we really want him to be involved in personnel? Is he going to wear on people in the organization?” And at the end of the day, the bigger question is, you know Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft put up with it for all those years because they were winning championships, but once the winning stopped, it only lasted four years, even for them, given everything they’d accomplished with Bill. Like, you know, owners can only tolerate so much of you walking by them, ignoring them, acting like basically they work, for you and not the other way around. So I think it’s a little bit of a reality check for Bill. But as I said, I think if I’m him, I would make it public that I’m sitting out this year. I pull myself out before I end up going basically 0-for-7 on this job cycle. And I think next offseason, when somebody is really desperate, like a Jerry Jones, he’ll get back in.
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The latest NFL coaching hire could have a big impact on the 2024 Patriots staff
L-R: Josh McDaniels, Steve Belichick, Zac Robinson. All three are viewed as candidates for the 2024 Patriots coach staff. (via USA Today Images)
The 2024 NFL coaching carousel has taken a surprising turn – one that could have major implications on the New England Patriots’ 2024 coaching staff.
On Thursday afternoon, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Atlanta Falcons are expected to hire Raheem Morris as their next head coach. Morris is currently the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams.
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Morris’ hire comes after the Falcons interviewed 14 candidates for the job. That includes former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who met with the Falcons twice and at one point was viewed as a strong favorite to land the job.
Now, Belichick remains without a team. Between the Belichick ties and Morris’ ties to the Rams, this hire could impact the Patriots’ coordinator search – as well as their hiring of positional coaches – in a number of ways.
The first is Belichick’s continued ‘free agent’ status. With the Falcons job filled there are only two head coach openings left in the NFL – the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks. Belichick hasn’t interviewed with either team (in fact, the Falcons are the only team he spoke with), and early in the process it was reported the Commanders aren’t interested in hiring him.
It now looks like there’s a real chance Belichick could be without a head coaching job in 2024. It’s hard to say what would happen if that was the case – would he take another job as senior advisor? Work in media? Take the year off and come back in 2025? Or just outright retire? From the outside looking in, all options seem realistic at this point.
Oct 1, 2023; Arlington, Texas, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick during the second half against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
As long as Belichick isn’t employed, the status of some of his former coaches in New England remains up in the air. When it seemed like he was heading to Atlanta, it felt like a foregone conclusion that some coaches would simply follow him. That group included is sons Steve Belichick and Brian Belichick, as well as special teams coaches Joe Judge and Cam Achord.
If those coaches don’t have a team to follow Belichick too, it changes the dynamic a bit. It’s simpler for Judge and Achord – the Patriots have been interviewing potential special teams coordinators (including current Falcons STC Marquice Williams) without any formal parting of ways with either of the two incumbents, which suggests new head coach Jerod Mayo plans on going in another direction. To make that official now though the Patriots may have to fire Judge and Achord (if they are still under contract).
It’s a little different with Belichick’s sons. The team has been interviewing candidates who would fit their job descriptions (Steve was a linebackers coach and de facto co-defensive coordinator last year, Brian was the safeties coach), but at the same time it’s been reported they’ve been offered opportunities to return to New England.
The return of either Belichick could come in a new role. ESPN’s Mike Reiss suggested over the weekend that, while the Patriots are interviewing potential defensive coordinators, Steve Belichick could end up in an “assistant head coach/senior adviser type” of role.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – NOVEMBER 14: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick stands with linebackers coach Steve Belichick on the sideline at Gillette Stadium on November 14, 2021 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Then, there’s the coach from outside the organization many expected Belichick to hire – offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. If Belichick doesn’t end up getting a job, McDaniels would be very much in play for the Patriots’ OC job. Jeff Howe of The Athletic recently reported that McDaniels would “jump to the top of the list” of the Patriots’ OC search if he didn’t end up going with Belichick.
That may end up being good news for the Patriots, as the Mostert hire could take two of their other candidates off the market. According to Howe, Rams passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson – who has interviewed with the Patriots – is a “strong candidate” to go with Morris in going from LA to Atlanta to be his offensive coordinator. Another Patriots interviewee, Rams tight ends coach Nick Caley, could also be brought over to that staff.
If that were to happen, it would mean all of the coaches known to have interviewed for the Patriots’ OC position would have taken other jobs. The only other two they spoke with in addition to Robinson and Caley were Cincinnati Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher (promoted to OC in Cincinnati) and Seahawks offensive coordinator Shane Waldron (hired by the Chicago Bears).
So with two head coaching hires left, the waiting game will continue in New England to fill out the coordinator jobs. However, it continues under potentially very different context than it did prior to Thursday.
