As we get closer to Black Monday, the job status of Bill Belichick will continue to command headlines. While it’s still uncertain if the legendary coach will stick in New England, it sounds like rival teams are preparing for a divorce.
According to Josina Anderson, there are “teams within the NFC South” that have “potential” interest in Belichick. Considering the Panthers’ midseason coaching change, the organization has been loosely connected to Belichick. Mike Jurecki of Arizona Football Daily confirms that Carolina “has always been an option.”
However, there haven’t been any previous rumblings of a pursuit by the Buccaneers, Saints, nor Falcons. Each of those teams’ head coaches could be at risk of losing their jobs, so it’s hard to definitively point to any one team based on Anderson’s report.
It sounds like it isn’t just rival teams that are anticipating a break up. According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, some Patriots staff members are “bracing for change.” As a result, these individuals “have begun examining outside opportunities out of necessity,” a hint that Robert Kraft and co. could make sweeping changes to the organization.
Andrew Callahan and Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald recently explored what led up to this point in New England. Following a dismal showing from the offense in 2022, there was hope in New England that replacing Matt Patricia with Bill O’Brien would solve some of the issues. However, Belichick was a proponent of sticking with Patricia, and while O’Brien tried to clean house on the offensive coaching staff, the head coach denied the request. This led to a divide on the offensive coaching staff, and the new OC had clear frustrations with the WR and OL coaches.
It sounds like those frustrations were shared by the assistant coaches, although they weren’t necessarily targeted at O’Brien. A source told Callahan and Kyed that newly-hired offensive line coach Adrian Klemm “confronted” director of player personnel Matt Groh “in a loud exchange” earlier this season. Klemm would later take a leave of absence, resulting in assistant coach Billy Yates and veteran OL James Ferentz leading the unit. Per the Boston Herald, Klemm isn’t expected to be back with the Patriots next season.
There were also issues among players. Cornerback Jack Jones “blew up” at position coach Mike Pellegrino after not starting the Germany game, leading to the player’s release, according to the Herald. Meanwhile, offensive lineman Trent Brown reportedly spoke openly about leaving for an NFC team this upcoming offseason.
Ultimately, sources believe Belichick’s “personnel control and inability to assemble a functional staff” led to his demise in New England. Still, these sources stressed that players continued to play hard for their head coach, and there’s a belief that he “hasn’t lost his fastball as a hands-on coach.” We’ll soon learn if Kraft feels the same way.
I’m having a hard time understanding why a team would want to start over with an onery, set in his ways, 71 year old who’s not interested in anything other than what works for him? Can you imagine what a disaster it would be if he was hired by Tepper?
Exactly! Which is why I’ll have my popcorn ready next season to laugh at Bill, again!
6 SUPER BOWL RINGS! DUH
2-7 (seasons) w/o Tom. DUH.
What did Belichek see in Patricia that no one else did?
No one else?
The Lions sadly fell for the illusion when they fired Jim Caldwell for Patricia. Those 6 Super Bowl rings opened a lot of doors for Bill’s coaching staff over the years. Caldwell finally had the Lions winning games but Patricia came in and put an end to that real quick. The Lions GM at the time wanted to hire every person who had ever worked in New England, including Mat Pat.
Currently Patricia is the senior defensive assistant for the Eagles. Probably one of the reasons that defense has been playing so poorly as of late. He is still getting work and will be in the league for many years from the looks of it.
Caldwell plateaued early with the Lions and they were a permanent 9-7 team. Patricia knows far more than Caldwell and he doesn’t kiss players’ butt like some coaches. Players refused to learn because they still thought against all evidence that they’re better; notice the Lions and just about everyone else get mousetrapped in situations with some consistency because they never train for situations. The Eagles defense was faltering well before Patricia got there
Plateaued early?
What is wrong with having a winning record 3 out of the 4 years he was there?
2 playoff appearances in a 3 year span, that is not plateauing that is finally being relevant. That’s what the Lions lost when Patricia joined them, relevance. Caldwell took them to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. They went from being competitive for the first time in 14 years back to the bottom.
Patricia was an as*hole by all accounts while he was in Detroit. There have been different reports over the years but it all came down to him not respecting the players, so the players did not respect him. No Coach can expect to build a winning culture if the players feel like they cannot have a conversation with the guy.
If you think Caldwell plateaued you better go back and crunch the numbers.
Wrong with statement that Caldwell took the Lions to the playoffs for the first time in 14 years. Schwartz took them as well after going 10-6 in 2011.
All they were was a 9-7/8-8 team. Caldwell had no ability to elevate them to a 13-3 playoff power. Patricia treated the players like the players deserved – they were stuck up unsophisticated players who thought they knew it all when they didn’t know how to keep winning or get better. Patricia should have treated them that way because they weren’t that good; they had no business disagreeing with them because their endless mediocrity proved it. He was right not the players.
“Caldwell plateaued early with the Lions and they were a permanent 9-7 team. ”
They were 11-23 in the two seasons before Caldwell. Then Caldwell went 36-28 in four years. Then they went 13-29-1 in the next 2 1/2 seasons with Patricia. They should build a statue of Caldwell outside the stadium.
Patricia is a horrible coach. There’s literally no evidence that any player ‘refused to learn’ under Patricia. But there’s a pile of (still mounting) evidence that Patricia is completely clueless.
You keep missing the point that all Caldwell did was get back to to 8-8/9-7 range they’d been stuck at (21-25 overall the previous three seasons before he got there). They went 13-29-1 under Patricia because the players refused to get better. He wouldn’t kiss their butt, he told them the truth that they were inferior, and they should have listened more and talked less. Listening to Patricia means they hit 12 wins in a season long before this year.
“You keep missing the point that all Caldwell did was get back to to 8-8/9-7 range they’d been stuck at (21-25 overall the previous three seasons before he got there). ”
And you keep missing the point that they were among the worst teams in the league before Caldwell got there, then were mediocre/good with Caldwell, then promptly went back to being one of the worst teams in the league when he left.
“They went 13-29-1 under Patricia because the players refused to get better.”
Again, you have literally no evidence to support this claim. But even still, if every player is “refusing to learn” what the coach is saying, then the problem is the *coach*. Patricia rode the wave of Brady’s success. Then he failed in Detroit, failed in New England when Brady was no longer there, and is failing now in Philadelphia. He is a horrible coach.
21-25 means they were not one of the worst teams when he got there. It means he only kept them a 7-9/9-7 team. He didn’t improve anything. And the evidence that the players refused to learn under Patricia is the fact Patricia TEACHES players. Critics call it micromanaging but these players need to learn situations and he was teaching this to them. So yes they HAVE to be “micromanaged.” He’s that much smarter than them and they knew it and had no right not to learn
Yes there’s evidence they refused to learn. Patricia teaches players; any player who actually listens grasps situations more and executes accordingly. It’s his idiot players who are clueless because they won’t learn situational awareness and execution
“Yes there’s evidence they refused to learn.”
If an entire team is refusing to learn what the coach is saying, then the coach is a horrible one for not changing up his methods.
No. When the coach is that much smarter than the players it shows the players are the problem.
Anger, fear, aggression. Darth Hoodie was looking for an evil Sith Apprentice. The coaching job was a secret identity. Wasn’t really about football at all.
Belichick trains his quarterbacks by making them learn defense FIRST. Learn what to look for in opponents’ defense and thus learn how to beat it. It’s a big part of what made Brady. I don’t think anyone else in coaching actually teaches players how to play better (Aqib Talib has said as much). That’s why it made sense. The problem was Mac Jones is a know it all who refuses to learn; he felt he’s a finished product “I went to Alabama therefore I’m better than these others” and once the league figured him out halfway through 2021 he became often absurdly easy to beat. Zappe listened to coaching far more
Well, if he was successful at being a “QB whisperer” more than once (Brady), he wouldn’t be on the chopping block or have gotten cut in Cleveland. The body of evidence points (his coaching career) points to him being a good coach who got lucky in one draft, and sucks as being a GM.
The body of evidence suggests BB went to 9 superbowls and won 6 of those.
Nothing you say will change that. Your obvious bias against BB and the Pats cloud your opinion.
HE WON 6 Superbowls… yeah he is just a “good coach” as you put it.
The hatred for BB and the Pats is arguably the most hilarious thing in the NFL the past 20 years. It just cracks me up that people want to argue that BB is just average or good.
Six rings, how many does your fav coach have? Probably not 6.
BTW, Sucky GMs dont win 6 rings. Just deal with it. Pats were good, your team lost, BB is going to the Hall as is Brady.
Deal with it.
Ok, Bill, you sure are talkative. Much more than those press conferences when you mumble one word answers. We all apologize for getting on your bad side.
Matt Cassell, Garoppolo, Jacoby Btissett Belichick 14-6 with them instead of Brady.
Frank Reich was awesome in a backup role (when defenses expected Jim Kelly). The players you mentioned never succeeded as the true starters and we all know how poorly they played when defenses had a chance to game-plan for them. Brady made Belichick and everyone outside of New England knows that.
You’re flat wrong. Brady didn’t know how to read NFL defenses; BELICHICK taught him how. Brady had work ethic but no true focus; BELICHICK taught him that. Belichick had to keep pushing Brady to get better, spread the ball more (Brady consistently got easier to defend when he lapsed to binky binky offense whether it was Deion Branch 2005 or Moss-Welker 2009 or the first quarter of 2014 and Edelman Edelman Edelman). Cassel Garoppolo and Brissett went to systems far less thorough than Belichick’s; they weren’t as good as Brady but under Belichick they win Superbowls had they stayed. So your argument is nonsense squared.
Did anyone else notice this articles mentions Ben Volin of the Boston Globe as the author of the piece multiple times, but the link goes to the article in the Boston Herald?
Thanks for the heads up. Mixed up my open tabs…should be fixed now.
It would be funny if Belichick ALSO left New England to go to Tampa…and then went 2-15.
Tampa will bring back Todd ‘Toilet’ Bowles and tread water again next year.
The Buccaneers are win-and-in for the NFC South going into Week 18. Bowles has maintained the competitive spirit that Bruce Arians brought to Tampa — the peanut gallery would take it away for a loser coach.
Tampa is treading water. They’re going to be 8-9 again. Bowles was horrible as Jets coach (which you know as a Jets fan).
2021 Bucs with Arians – 2nd ranked offense, 5th ranked defense, 13-4 record.
2022 Bucs with Bowles (still had Brady) – 25th ranked offense, 15th ranked defense, 8-9 record.
“Maintained the competitive spirit” = taking a huge step backwards into mediocrity.
Bucs 2022 age finally caught up to Brady
I hope the Niners bring Trent Brown back
First it’s unclear Kraft actually wants to fire Belichick especially as it’s been HIS interference that led to this dysfunction (it’s clear now Kraft indeed forced the 2017 Garoppolo trade at Brady’s behest, overruled Belichick to draft Mac Jones, and ordered Belichick to keep starting Jones instead of admitting defeat and staying with Zappe in 2022 – leaving Belichick alone would have led to much more success than seen the last three seasons).
Second Belichick has said it’s too late to start over given how difficult it is to set up a front office.
Kraft should keep Belichick through 2024, start Zappe the entire season, and give back the authority he took from Belichick
“Kraft should keep Belichick through 2024, start Zappe the entire season, and give back the authority he took from Belichick”
In this scenario, do they draft a QB this year? They might have the #2 pick.
No. You can’t trust the draft especially with quarterbacks. Sign a non-name (no Kirk Cousins) veteran quarterback as primary backup and an undrafted quarterback for training and competition purposes.
Who knows? And while people love to say he’s the greatest of all time, I’ll say there’s a track record from Cleveland; there’s weaseling out on the Jets (sure, there was prior history, but still); and now there’s sufficient evidence post-Brady of failure to put a successful team on the field (three of four years with a losing record and no playoff appearances those years). Let’s not “rename” that trophy just yet..
there is sufficient evidence that BB won 6 superbowls as well.
Probably not gonna win the argument when BB can just put on his 6 rings and which coach can do the same?
Nobody. Stop hating. You are similar to the people claiming Phil Jackson cannot win without Michael Jordan and Kobe. I doubt Phil cares while he polishes all of his trophies and his 11 rings in Montana.
Also, stop moving the goal posts. Every other coach and player is judged by winning, EXCEPT the Patriots who have this other standard that BB or Brady MUST win without the other to prove their worth.
Such a dumb argument.
6 rings, your team probably has none during those 2 decades.
Of course, only YOU have the six. BUT my team, in one game, had a margin of victory larger than all of yours COMBINED. That tells me some luck went the right way. Like getting lucky somebody passed at the goal line instead of running the ball. Oh, and speaking of running the ball, that OT SB never would have happened. And if the team was SO GOOD, how come they lost to an underrated team and wound up 16-1? You remember the six by a total margin of victory of 29 points and we’ll all remember 16 – 1.
It wasn’t luck passing at the goal line instead of lapsing to the most obvious and easiest to defend playcall because you think your back who hadn’t broken a first down since you went up 24-14 will actually not be stopped. And running the ball doesn’t win.
It sounds like the writer of this article is fabricating this story just to get clicks. I find it hard to believe that O’Brien would go against trying to break up an offensive system that’s in place from belichick. O Brien hasn’t done anything in this league while BB is idk only the 2nd greatest coach in pro football
To accuse someone of fabricating an article is a pretty big accusation, especially given the fact the this author is simply relaying information from other sources. He names the sources, links to those sources, and then states what those sources are saying. I’m not sure how that qualifies as “fabricating.” Not to mention you e completely misunderstood what is being reported about O’Brien. In fact, what you say the author says is actually the exact opposite of what the author is reporting. Perhaps the fabrication claim is aimed at the wrong person.
4 Division Titles: Finishing 1st in the AFC South 4 times in a 5 year span.
Bill O’Brien had 5 seasons with a winning record in Houston. He coached the Texans to the playoffs 4 times in his 6 and a half years with them.
I am not arguing with you, I just think it is unfair to say he has done nothing. He never won a Super Bowl but he did do an impressive job down in Texas.
Coach listened to Saban about Jones but forgot to ask the most important question:
How many of Mac’s teammates went to his 21st birthday party?
I said what I said
Ok Sonny
Belichick might have listened to Saban but I suspect he recognized Jones as a phony when he spoke to him.
“hasn’t lost his fastball”
Ah!… so Belichick will join the Red Sox and set a record as the oldest Cy Young winner.
The spectacular collapse of the Patriots is the untold story of this year’s NFL. Swept by Miami, smoked at Dallas, shut out twice at home, having a game flexed out of Monday Night Football, now guaranteed to finish bottom of the AFC East. And the Belichick groupies like Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News continue to look the other way because the evidence doesn’t fit their pre-determined agenda.
All signs point to Belichick leaving Foxboro and it may not be his choice.
yeah such a spectacular collapse from winning 6 superbowls and going from joke of the NFL to one of the premier franchises in the sport. I am sure Kraft is really upset the Brady and BB tripled his net worth in 2 decades. NE fans are probably gonna run BB out of town with pitchforks for his terrible coaching…
Again, what I love about NE Pats is that they piss off EVERYONE else in the country.
That is what I will miss about the Pats, BB and Brady. Every year I got to hear the frustration, anger and jealousy of every other NFL fan base and listen to them complain while NOBODY IN NE GIVES A CRAP.
I was taught one simple rule with sports by my coaches…SCOREBOARD.
But please continue being upset about the Pats…
BTW its not “Untold” if its on ESPN every week, every Pundit talks about it on sport radio and you and every other poster constantly discusses it on board like this.
Its a well told story that others like yourselves have been waiting for 2 decades to pounce on.
Miami and Dallas are winning the same amount of Superbowls this seasons as the Pats….ZERO.
Kraft needs to fire himself from being involved in Football decisions period……. there problem solved.
Yes and he’s smart enough to know this.