One of the various items of Week 1 Sunday Splash! news wasn’t really new.
Bill Belichick wants to coach in 2025.
Of course he does. He wanted to coach in 2024. But first he got fired and then he got only one interview and next he didn’t get offered the job.
The report from ESPN.com added that Belichick is expected to be “choosy.” This implies he won’t be beggy.
There’s no guarantee he’ll get an offer. There’s no guarantee he’ll get an interview. Yes, he’s the best game-day coach in league history. Unless, however, a team is going to give him the keys to the entire football operation, the folks who would work with Belichick (or the folks he would be working for) might not be comfortable with the situation.
Belichick has embraced the media in the hopes of getting fans to warm up to him. He’s trying (a little too hard) to be folksy and relatable. He arguably is overexposed. His appearance on the ManningCast apparently didn’t move the needle; otherwise, ESPN P.R. would have been bragging about it.
So who will want him? The Cowboys could have hired him after 2023. They didn’t. The Eagles could have. They didn’t. Maybe they will after a failed season in 2024 — if either or both have failed seasons.
Maybe the Giants will do it. Maybe someone else will roll the dice on Belichick. Maybe there’s a team that has the talent and simply needs Belichick’s genius to turn it around.
Regardless, it’s more than a little presumptuous for Belichick to think he’ll even be in position to be choosy next year. He struck out this year. The only thing that will be different after this season is that he’ll be a year older.
Which is never a good thing when it comes to coaching in the NFL, because age discrimination is a very real dynamic, for more than a few teams.
