Why didn’t Bill Belichick get the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job? Why is he still unemployed?

Bill Belichick is regarded as one of the best head coaches in NFL history, so what’s stopping him finding work? Belichick, who turned 72 yesterday, has been unemployed for the past three months. After 24 seasons with the New England Patriots, he left the franchise on 11 January with Patriots owner Robert Kraft gushing, “He is the greatest coach of all time, which makes this decision to part ways so hard”.

Belichick and the Patriots part company at the start of the year

During his time at the helm with the Pats, Belichick masterminded six Super Bowl victories and ended with a regular season record of 266–121–0. So what went wrong? There have since been rumors of friction between the coach and Kraft which possibly boiling over - that being one of the reasons why Belichick moved on.

The falling out between Belichick and his superiors would have been taken as a warning sign by many franchises seeking a new coach. No one wants to hire someone who might rock the boat and that could have been among the reasons why the Atlanta Falcons passed on Belichick and brought Raheem Morris back at the end of January. Of course, there could have been other contributory factors, Morris knows the institution; at 47, he’s younger...

Falcons owner Arthur Blank did mention that other coaches were considered, telling reporters, “Raheem emerged from a field of excellent candidates and is the right leader to take our team into the future. His time in LA has given him an enhanced perspective on everything from personnel, team operations, game planning, working with an outstanding offensive staff and many other things that has helped him develop into an even more prepared coach in all aspects of the game. I believe his leadership skills have grown and his understanding of what it takes to have a highly collaborative one-team culture are now at a much higher level”.

Kraft’s reservations

There other reports have emerged claiming that in two private conversations with Blank, Kraft warned about Belichick’s difficult and allegedly stubborn character. ESPN report that Belichick’s character, according to a source who spoke to two people: a close Kraft friend and a longtime Belichick confidant. The source quoted the Belichick source as saying, ‘Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill...’. That account was backed up, the source said, by the close Kraft friend”.

There may well have been other reasons for Kraft to opt for Morris rather than the vastly more experienced Belichick. For instance, Belichick was unusual in that he actually held two positions with the Patriots - as head coach as well as the de facto role of general manager. The question is how that might affect Terry Fontenot, who the Falcons brought in as general manager in January 2021. Would Bill end up stepping on his toes?

In the latest development, it is being reported that Belichick will put his coaching career to one side, at least in the short term, as he has accepted an offer to work as an analyst with Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions. ESPN+ and ESPN2 broadcast ManningCast on Monday nights during the regular season which mean that we could be seeing Belichick back on television screens in early September.