Bill Belichick seems to be the leading candidate for the Falcons head coach vacancy, and the prospect of the greatest coach of all time coming to Atlanta has been met with polar opposite reactions.
On the one hand, his reputation proceeds him. Belichick is the architect of the “Patriot Way” and six Super Bowl teams. His knowledge of the game is second to none. In a vacuum, any team, including the Falcons would be fools not to pursue the GOAT, as an NFL personnel evaluator pointed out.
“I don’t understand how Bill Belichick could not be the hottest candidate,” a high-ranking personnel evaluator told Jeremy Fowler. “I haven’t seen him lose any passion or steam, he still has a deep understanding of the modernized game and details.”
On the other hand, only a fool would ignore the obvious red flags. He struggled to stack wins in the post-Tom Brady era, is turning 72 years old soon, and clearly ran out of cache in New England. One executive believes he won’t have that strong of a market.
“I don’t think teams will be clamoring for Belichick,” one NFC exec said, via Fowler. “Might be wrong but I’m skeptical. He’s older and things got stale in New England. It would take a pretty desperate owner, in my opinion.”
The Falcons, like all inquiring teams, hope Belichick’s second act resembles Andy Reid’s in Kansas City. Big Red was fired 11 years ago from Philadelphia, where he won 130 games as the Eagles head coach. With the Chiefs, Reid has accumulated 124 more wins, including a pair of Super Bowls. At least one believes it’s possible.
“He can have an Andy Reid-type impact on a new team, similar to when Reid went from Philadelphia to Kansas City,” an AFC personnel official said. “Assuming he’s still got the energy to do it, he’s about as good of a coach as you can hire. Knows what it takes to win.”
Reid is currently 65 years old and was 11 years younger when he took over Chief Kingdom, so there’s some discrepancy between the two situations. I’m not one to question Belichick’s motor, but it has to be considered among Arthur Blank and the search committee.
Obviously, in an ideal world, Bill Belichick brings the Falcons its first Super Bowl, similar to Andy Reid. In reality, I don’t know if it’s that simple. Is Belichick willing to stick around while the Falcons figure out the quarterback position? Can he commit to more than a handful of seasons? He probably can’t even answer that.
The prospect of hiring Belichick is complex, and it’s received wildly different reactions from the Falcons fan base. If he is hired, the pressure will be on to deliver wins immediately.
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Photographer: Mark Alberti/Icon Sportswire
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