The NFL’s coaching carousel has stopped without Bill Belichick landing a head-coaching job, surprising many, including Tom Brady, his former star quarterback.
“I don’t know the criteria for hiring coaches. I’ve never been a part of it,” Brady said this week on his “Let’s Go!” podcast. “I mean, I’m surprised that the greatest coach ever doesn’t have a job, absolutely. But I’m surprised [by] a lot of things in the NFL.”
Belichick, who mutually parted ways with the New England Patriots after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles, had only two interviews during this year’s cycle — both with the Atlanta Falcons, who decided to hire Raheem Morris for the job instead.
The last two of the seven head-coaching vacancies were filled last week when the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders hired Mike Macdonald and Dan Quinn, respectively.
If Belichick doesn’t take a job as an assistant coach, next season will be the first time since 1975 that he will not be coaching in the NFL.
Belichick, 71, left New England with 333 career victories (including playoffs), second all-time behind Don Shula’s 347, and won six Super Bowls with Brady as his quarterback.
Brady said he can relate in a way to Belichick not landing a job based on his experience in free agency when he left the Patriots after 20 seasons in 2020.
“When I was a free agent, there [were] a lot of teams that didn’t want me,” Brady said on his podcast.
Brady eventually signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and won a seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the Bucs, playing two more seasons in Tampa before retiring last year.