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Crazy as it sounds, Bill Belichick is unlikely to coach in the NFL in the 2024 season. It will be the first time since the 1974 season that Belichick has not been with an NFL team.
But sources tell CBS Sports not to count the GOAT out for 2025. There remains a desire for Belichick to return to the sidelines … he just has to do it on his terms.
The Atlanta Falcons are the only known team to have interviewed Belichick this cycle, and Thursday they agreed to terms with Raheem Morris to be their next head coach. This came after two in-person interviews with Belichick, who laid out his plan and vision for Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
The Falcons decided they could live without Belichick, who certainly would have changed things within the building. As one Falcons source put it, there would have been “a groundshake” with Belichick coming to town. Football people would have been reassigned or fired. Business people would have had to change how, where and when they do their jobs.
That’s how the soon-to-be 72-year-old Belichick wants to run his ship, and Blank decided that’s not what he wants for his franchise. And with Belichick believed to be a short-timer wherever he goes — sources gave him a four-year maximum anywhere — the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
“He was going to be picky anyway,” a source familiar with Belichick said. “He needs someone to give him total control.”
And that’s why waiting could work out for Belichick. Though it’s true he’s not getting any younger, it is certainly possible — if not probable — that the appetite for Belichick across the league will grow over the next year.
The last five hiring cycles have produced 35 new head coach opportunities, or nearly eight a year. This year there were eight openings exactly, and so one can predict a similar turnover next year. That means a quarter of the league will be so disgusted by their lot in the NFL that…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bill-belichick-unlikely-to-coach-this-year-due-to-total-control-that-comes-with-hire-but-dont-count-out-2025/
Author : Jonathan Jones
Publish date : 2024-01-27 22:06:51
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