This is the first season in 25 years without Bill Belichick employed as an NFL head coach, and the first season in 50 years without Belichick working in the NFL in any capacity. The legendary Patriots head coach has already indicated that he plans on returning to coaching in 2025 with an eye on surpassing Don Shula as the winningest head coach in NFL history. Belichick currently sits 3rd on the all-time list with 302 wins, behind George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328).
While it appears almost guaranteed that we will see Belichick back on an NFL sideline in the near future, it remains a mystery as to which team will be the ones to hire him. Now that the Jets are the first team slated to have a vacancy, the rumor mill is officially up and running.
Could The Jets Hire Bill Belichick?
After fairly high expectations throughout the offseason, the Jets season has started with a proverbial crawl in the form of a 2-3 record. Even worse than their unimpressive record is the fact that their offense looks old, slow, and lacking in creativity. This led them to relieve Robert Saleh of his duties as head coach this past Tuesday. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was named interim coach for the remainder of the season. It is worth noting that no team in the Super Bowl era has ever made the playoffs after firing their coach mid season. Only one (the 2021 Raiders with interim coach Rich Bisaccia) has ever made the playoffs with a different coach than they started the season with.
Assuming that New York doesn’t remove the interim tag on Ulbrich at the end of the season (which seems highly unlikely), they will be on the market for a new head coach come January. Bill Belichick might be the perfect fit for a franchise that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010, the longest active playoff drought among the four major North American sports leagues.
Would Belichick Be The Right Hire For The Jets?
Belichick could bring stability to an organization that desperately needs it. In the Jets’ 65-year history, they have only 4 division titles, 14 playoff appearances, and 12 playoff wins. In his storied career, Belichick has 17 division titles, 19 playoff appearances, and 31 playoff wins.
Keep in mind that Belichick currently has something to prove for the first time in a long time. While he looks to surpass George Halas and Don Shula on the all-time wins list, he is also facing a quite prevalent narrative among NFL circles: that Tom Brady was more responsible for the Patriots’ dynasty than he was. While this statement would be hard to argue against no matter what Belichick is able to accomplish throughout the remainder of his career, the 72-year-old still wants to prove that he can win without Brady under center. As great of a coach as he is, Belichick still has a losing record without Brady at quarterback.
We will have a couple more months to speculate before we officially know the answer as to which team Belichick will coach next. In the meantime, more jobs and potential landing spots will open up. However, I doubt any of them would garner as much hype or interest as seeing Belichick return to the team that he resigned from in 2000 just a single day after being hired as their head coach. Talk about a full circle moment.
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