Former New England Patriots safety and current NFL analyst Devin McCourty suggested that Bill Belichick was only interested in joining the Atlanta Falcons this winter because Belichick is 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula’s NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (347, regular season and postseason combined).
“If I’m being honest, I didn’t really want to see him go to Atlanta,” McCourty said about Belichick during the latest edition of the “Eye on Foxborough” podcast, as shared by Karen Guregian of MassLive. “I think Atlanta was a chance to break (Shula’s) record, no doubt about it, but I just didn’t think Atlanta would be a year or two away from really competing in the Super Bowl…whereas, who knows if there’s a team that comes up in the next year, you bring Bill Belichick in there, and this team automatically becomes a contender.”
The Falcons hired Raheem Morris instead of Belichick.
While Tom Brady recently referred to Belichick as “the greatest coach ever,” it seems teams around the league fear the 71-year-old isn’t what he was in his best days considering the Falcons are the only club to meet with him this winter.
There are, however, rumors hinting that the Kansas City Chiefs could reach out to Belichick if Andy Reid leads his team to a Super Bowl LVIII victory and then retires.
“It’s about strictly winning Super Bowls, and that’s what I loved about being in New England,” McCourty added about Belichick’s mindset. “…That’s what he was always coaching towards, how could we be our best in January through February. That’s what I want to see him continue to be able to do, not just win enough games from September to the beginning of January to call it a season and say, ‘Well now I’m only five games away or eight games away from this record.'”
Belichick could enjoy a bit of a reset, spend next season as an in-studio analyst for one of the league’s national media partners and wait to see if a team such as the New York Giants,
Dallas Cowboys or Philadelphia Eagles give him the keys to the kingdom next January. With that said, whispers about Belichick possibly replacing Reid may only grow louder leading up to the evening of Feb. 11.
