Bill Belichick's Days With Patriots Come To An End, But Coach's Career Likely Not Over
Other than in NFL lore, the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick are no more.
The club and the six-time Super Bowl winning coach have agreed to part ways by the end of business on Thursday, a source tells OutKick. And that will bring to a close a relationship that since 2000 endured as the most stable and successful in the NFL.
Belichick, 71, met with club owner Robert Kraft and his son Jonathan Kraft following the Patriots' season-ending loss to the New York Jets and agreed everyone moving on benefits everyone involved.
The belief is Belichick will have suitors to continue coaching, although who is not clear right now. The Patriots will begin their coaching search in earnest and former Titans coach Mike Vrabel immediately becomes a candidate after being dismissed by the Titans on Tuesday.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 07: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks during a press conference after a game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Final Piece Of Dismantled NFL Dynasty
That writes a final chapter for what was the NFL's most dominant dynasty of this century. The Patriots won Super Bowls under Belichick in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018.
But the dynasty has fallen on hard times, delivering losing seasons in three of the last four years.
Belichick leaves New England with an impressive 266-121 record (.687 winning percentage). That's regular season. Belichick's playoff teams were even more dominant against the NFL's best competition, compiling a 30-12 record (.714) that led to a lot of rings and championship banners.
But, obviously, nothing lasts indefinitely. And the Patriots and their coach aren't.
Since 2020 the Patriots have been little more than an also-ran team. They finished last in the AFC East this season. They've been out of the playoffs in three of four seasons and were blown out of their lone 2021 playoff appearance.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 01: New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft walks on the field before the game against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium on October 01, 2023 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
Kraft Disappointed In Recent Years
New England’s 17-3 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday cemented a 4-13 record, Belichick’s worst in his 29-year head coaching career. Yes, worse than his Cleveland Browns days and the first year in New England.
Seeing the trend, Kraft was open about his dissatisfaction with the results. The owner has been using words such as "disappointed" and "frustrated" about the results he's seen for three seasons.
It should be pointed out that New England's decline coincided with quarterback Tom Brady leaving after the 2019 season. He went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won the Super Bowl in 2020.
That one, by the way, was on Belichick. At least that's how Kraft saw it, per a source. The owner believed Belichick convinced him overpaying for Brady at the end of his career was a bad move. The coach believed it was better to let Brady go a year early than a year late.
ATLANTA, GA JANUARY 08: Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady (12) warms up prior to the start of the NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons on January 8th, 2023 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The Tom Brady Disaster
Well, Brady threw for nearly 15,000 yards with 108 touchdowns his three years in Tampa.
That goes down as a career defining decision for Belichick somewhere on the importance scale below the decision to select Brady with the 199th pick of the 2000 draft. So, great move eventually followed by a costly mistake.
Belichick has not gotten the results he hoped out of his teams of late because his drafts, and to a lesser degree his forays into free agency, have not stocked the Patriots with enough talent. The Patriots failed to find a good quarterback to replace Brady. They compounded the problem by not adding enough playmakers on the outside. And, yes, Belichick made some other mistakes in building his 2022 coaching staff.
But it was some questionable personnel decisions that glow in neon as problematic.
Belichick went to scout University of Georgia players before the 2018 draft and selected running back Sony Michel instead of Nick Chubb. He needed wide receiver help before the 2019 draft and selected N'Keal Harry in the first round, leaving A.J. Brown and DK Metcalf on the board.
FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 07: New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick speaks during a press conference after a game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on January 07, 2024 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
Bill Belichick Seemed Open To Adjustments
There were some hits, too. But not enough to overcome the fact Belichick the personnel man betrayed Belichick the coach.
Belichick seemed to understand part of that this week when he spoke to reporters and suggested he'd be willing to step back from his full-on personnel duties and accept general manager help.
"I’m for whatever collectively we decide as an organization is the best thing to help our football team," Belichick said during a Monday Zoom meeting with reporters. "I’m under contract. I’m going to do what I always do, which is every day I come in, work as hard as I can to help the team in whatever way I can. So that’s what I’m going to continue to do."
Belichick was also quick to point out that, well, it's not all been his fault.
"I have multiple roles in that," he said of personnel decisions. " I rely on a lot of people to help me in those responsibilities. If somebody’s got to have the final say, I rely on a lot of other people to help. And, however that process is, I’m only part of it."
HOUSTON, TX - FEBRUARY 04: Former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula on the Red Carpet at the 2017 NFL Honors on February 04, 2017, at the Wortham Theater Center in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Belichick's Chase Of Shula Expected To Continue
This is a big deal for the Patriots because they have the No. 3 pick in the first round of the April draft. It's logical they would use that pick to upgrade the quarterback position.
So what now for one of the greatest NFL coaches of all-time?
Belichick has 333 career wins. That puts him 14 wins behind Don Shula's 347 as the most all-time.
Belichick wants that record, a source said.
And he'll likely have suitors.
The current job openings include Washington, Carolina, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Tennessee and the Los Angeles Chargers. OutKick reported weeks ago the Chargers search is more centered on Jim Harbaugh and that Belichick, while tempting, might not be a fit.