After the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick parted ways, many assumed he’d land elsewhere as a head coach. He didn’t.
Now, many assume he’ll take a high-profile media job. He might not.
Andrew Marchand of TheAthletic.com reports that Belichick “has told networks he is disinclined to be part of a regular studio show.”
He could still do something less regular with Omaha Productions and/or NFL Films.
That could be a mistake by Belichick. If he wants to position himself for a head-coaching job in 2025, he needs to win over the fan bases of teams that will be looking. During the 2023 season, when it began to seem inevitable that the Patriots would move on, we posted on X a simple question — if your favorite team is looking for a new coach after this season, would you want Belichick? The outcome was, by more than 70 percent, no.
The Dynasty series doesn’t help Belichick. Beyond the question of whether the series affirmatively tried to make him look bad, he did himself no favors during his interview, during which he seemed even more uncomfortable and standoffish than he has during most press conferences. (If that’s even possible.)
Belichick needs to make himself more attractive to fans before he’ll be truly attractive to an owner who would have to sell the hiring of a 72-year-old coach to its fan base. (With the exception of Jerry Jones, who can do pretty much anything and still have people flock to watch Cowboys games.) To get there, Belichick’s best play would be to find a media lane in which he constantly reminds everyone that he is capable of being affable, vulnerable, and perhaps even objectively likable.
That could happen with Omaha Productions, depending on what he does and how often he does it. Whether it’s a film study show or something devoted to NFL history, people need to see the side of Belichick that those who know him insist he’s capable of displaying, when he’s not obsessed with the possibility of having anything he says used against him by a future opponent.
