Will Bill Belichick coach again? A hoodie-shaped cloud looms over the NFL in 2024

Bill Belichick will cast a large shadow over the NFL during the 2024 season.

The coaching legend is gone from the league for the first time in 50 years, but he will have a ghostly presence in many buildings, especially in the franchises where coaches are under a lot of pressure to win now.

Whether Belichick actually gets another coaching job remains to be seen. Still, there’s no doubt that his status as a free agent will be one of the most talked about topics in the league this season. In fact, it’s already a prominent topic at several facilities.

You can understand why. This is a completely unprecedented situation. Never before has a six-time Super Bowl champion head coach been on standby — albeit with an extensive media schedule — to sort through the inevitable wave of January vacancies.

Call it the Belichick cloud.

“That will definitely be a much bigger cloud than we’ve seen in a long time,” said a senior team manager, who, like the other sources in this story, was granted anonymity so he could speak candidly.

The Dallas Cowboys are the obvious connection. Mike McCarthy, who is on an expiring contract, has 36 regular-season wins and just one playoff win over the last three years, so the Cowboys may have to move deep into January for McCarthy to keep his job.

And even then would it be enough? The Cowboys still have one of the most talented rosters in the NFL, and owner Jerry Jones isn’t afraid to go star-hunting. If Jones believes Belichick would give his ready-made competitor the best chance to end a three-decade Super Bowl drought, this could be the perfect match for both sides.

“Nothing (the Cowboys) should surprise me,” opined an assistant coach from another team.

Belichick, who turns 73 in April, has his own short-term goals. He has 333 career wins, including the playoffs, and needs another 15 to surpass Don Shula for the all-time record. Belichick’s legacy is secure without reaching that benchmark, but he still wants to reach it.

Therefore, a team in need of a roster rebuild would not be a logical fit, either personally or organizationally. So while Belichick will forever be associated with the New York Giants, whom he helped guide to two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator, they are still in the midst of a massive rebuild in the third year of the Joe Schoen-Brian Daboll. ticket.

Other teams that could potentially meet a more appropriate criterion could be the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles. While the Bills have won double-digit regular-season games in five straight seasons for the first time in franchise history, they haven’t gotten over the bump in the playoffs yet. If Sean McDermott can’t break this trend, would ownership consider a run on Belichick?

Nick Sirianni has also gotten a lot of attention in Philly. When the Eagles practiced in Foxboro this month, a fan yelled at Sirianni that Belichick would take his job next year, so he’s already aware of the noise.

Patriots fan just yelled at Nick Sirianni

“Hey Sirianni, Bill will take over your job next year”

It will be an intensive training today

— Eliot Shorr-Parken (@EliotShorrParks) August 13, 2024

“(It’s) definitely a distraction,” said another assistant coach, “especially when the coaching staff is on an expiring contract. (It’s) important to get a good start, I think.”

However, there is an important element at play that should not be overlooked. There were seven coaching vacancies last season, not including the New England Patriots, and Belichick was still without a job.

The Athletics reported in February that three major factors played a role: Belichick’s mishandling of the Patriots’ quarterback situation, including the events leading up to Tom Brady’s 2020 departure and failure to develop Mac Jones, Belichick’s desire to to maintain total control over football operations and a concern about his inability to deal with a younger generation of players.

The same fear still exists.

“If the model is the New England model, you blow up the operation as you know it,” one human resources official said. “If you do that with a 73-year-old head coach, you blow up your personnel operation and start over with a head coach who may only be there three years. There would be many questions.

“It has to be an owner who is in a situation where he has to win now because it is not an asset for the future. It is not forward-looking. It is present-oriented. And what do you do for two years? How do you maintain success?”

Another executive simply asked, “Do you really think Jerry and Stephen (Jones) are giving the personnel control to (Belichick)?”

It’s certainly conceivable that the coming year will soften Belichick’s stance on maintaining control of the roster, especially if the alternative means coaching his last game. Jerry Jones has long since determined he will remain the Cowboys’ general manager, and his vision aligned with Stephen Jones and Will McClay has produced a top selection.

Like the Eagles, Howie Roseman is widely regarded as one of the best general managers in the NFL. Even if owner Jeffrey Lurie ultimately approves a coaching change, it would be somewhat stunning if he were to take away Roseman’s responsibilities.

The Bills are in a unique spot on that front. General manager Brandon Beane and McDermott have worked together since 2011 when they were with the Carolina Panthers. If owner Terry Pegula decides Belichick is the better option after the season, would Pegula consider Beane and McDermott as a package deal, or force Beane and Belichick to make serious adjustments and find out?

It’s also fair to remain concerned about Belichick’s delivery. His old-school, tough approach with players has become the exception in the modern landscape, as players have developed a greater appreciation for coaches who strengthen the locker room. While older generations of coaches, players or fans may roll their eyes at the idea, it doesn’t change the truth. Those who refused to adapt had a shorter shelf life in their role.

In any case, these questions will continue to stimulate conversation, which will only fuel speculation in several buildings. A strong start will be imperative to curb the debate in places like Dallas, Philly and even Buffalo, where the debate has already begun, in whispers and otherwise. But as history has shown, a few perceived Super Bowl candidates will limp or fall out of the starting blocks, leading to a new group of potential Belichick candidates.

“The teams that are struggling in the first two months and have high expectations, you’re going to experience that pressure no matter what, whether it’s Belichick hanging over your head or someone else,” one executive said.

But when speculation about sports talk seeps into the building, either during press conferences or during conversations between coaches or front-office executives wondering about their futures, tensions can rise in certain organizations.

“I think it can become annoying and distracting if it is constantly asked and mentioned,” said one executive.

Belichick won’t be hard to find this season. He has several media roles lined up, so he will certainly hear questions about this issue. He may be avoiding them to avoid putting a former colleague in a bad position, but it doesn’t take much to make headlines.

And that hoodie-shaped cloud will continue to hang over us.

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(Photo illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The athletic; Photos by Bill Belichick, Nick Sirianni and Mike McCarthy: Cooper Neill, Mitchell Leff and Adam Bettcher)