Patriots owner Robert Kraft sparked some paranoia among New England fans before the Super Bowl when he said he knows when Bill Belichick is planning to retire, but those comments apparently were not meant to be interpreted as Belichick contemplating retirement.
According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, people within the Patriots organization say Belichick plans to coach at least five more seasons. And if Tom Brady plays another five years in New England, it sounds like Belichick could stay even longer.
Every indication I hear from inside the Patriots is that Belichick plans to stay on as coach of the team for at least five more years.
These people also say Belichick wants to coach after Brady retires. They think Belichick wants to prove he can win without the best quarterback of all time.
That isn’t the first time we have heard of the belief that Belichick wants to prove he can win without Brady. While the 64-year-old would likely be considered the greatest NFL coach of all time if he retired today, there are some critics who would argue that he has not won a Super Bowl as a head coach without Brady. Does that talk bother Belichick?
It shouldn’t. There’s no shame in sticking with what works, and one player cannot singlehandedly lead a team to five championships. Belichick deserves just as much credit as Brady — if not more — for what the team has accomplished in the past 15 years.
Belichick lives and breathes football, so we could easily see him coaching through age 70 because he loves what he does. If he does plan on doing that, one of his top assistants may want to rethink his future plans.
