Bill Belichick has been quite the revelation as a media personality in season post New England Patriots departure.
Regular appearances on ESPN’s Monday Night Football “Manningcast” and “Pat McAfee Show” have shown a softer, more jovial side to fans, whilst enhancing his reputation as connoisseur and all time authority on the game of football.
Bill Belichick Could Not Secure A Head Coaching Gig In 2024
GettyBill Belichick helps out son, Steve Belichick, coaching the Washington Huskies.
The 6 x Super Bowl winning head coach is broadly regarded as the greatest pro football head coach of all time, and by many as the greatest sporting coach of all time.
In spite of his accolades, Belichick was unable to land a job as the head coach of an NFL team in the 2024 hiring cycle, although Kyle Shanahan confirmed that he approached the former Patriot to be the team’s defensive coordinator for this current season; an offer that was politely declined.
A failure to woo the team closest to bringing in the now 72 year old, the Atlanta Falcons, with concerns about his age and potential inability to fully delegate personnel control to the executives, lead to a mandatory season sabbatical talking ball with other major sports personalities.
Belichick Lands Interview With Surprising First Candidate
GettyUNC Football vs. Syracuse
Bill Belichick is widely viewed to be looking to get back into coaching as soon as possible, despite finding success in the media booth.
The news of Belichick taking part of any interview at this point is surprising, as NFL teams do not tend to interview prior to “Black Monday”, the day after the final regular season games where head coaches in danger have their fates sealed.
And so, interestingly, Belichick’s first interview of the hiring cycle for 2025 does not come from pro football, but from college, per Grant Hughes.
After the firing of former National Championship winner, Mack Brown, in late November, it seemed like the Tar Heels might be up to something, given the slightly strange timing of the dismissal; 4 days prior to the team’s “Feast Week” rival game against NC State.
Despite CBS sports naming UNC their #1 college football head coaching vacancy, many others are expected to follow at the conclusion of the championship weekend, and indeed the expanded, 12 team playoffs – including, quite possibly, Ohio State.
A non-elite program that plays in the 3rd best conference in college football, the ACC, seems to be a rather left-field pick for a man who many believe could end up having multiple suitors in both the college and pro football spheres.
Perhaps Belichick is using this as valuable interview prep; getting a grasp as to what teams want to see from a 72 year old coach that many regard as stubborn – even if he does have eight Super Bowl rings.
Or instead, he may be keeping his options open: given his age, Belichick knows that he does not have years to sit around waiting for the perfect job opening to come his way. If he is as intent on getting back into coaching as the world believe he is, perhaps even a perceived “step down” to take the UNC job may well be worthwhile for the coaching mastermind.
