The New England Patriots are on pace to have their worst season of the Bill Belichick era, and the poor results may cost the longtime coach his job. While some have wondered if Belichick could be coaching for his job in Week 10, it remains unlikely that he will be fired midseason.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media on Sunday discussed some of the reasons Patriots owner Robert Kraft would not be inclined to make a coaching change in the middle of the season. One factor is that Belichick is arguably the greatest coach of all time, so he has earned the right to finish out the year. Perhaps more importantly, the Patriots would not have the option of trading Belichick if they fire him.
From @NFLGameDay Kickoff: On #Patriots coach Bill Belichick, his future, and what may come next… pic.twitter.com/436bjgo1zw
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 12, 2023
“The other part of this is just, functionally, if Belichick is going to somehow, someway coach elsewhere next year, the Patriots have him under contract. They would at least want some sort of compensation to make this happen,” Rapoport said. “If you are going to fire him, what does that actually do? Does it give you a jump on the process when you may have his successor already in the building in Jerod Mayo? A lot of reasons why it would not make sense to move on from Bill Belichick, at least during the season.”
Belichick reportedly signed a contract extension with the Patriots last offseason. He is under contract through at least 2024.
As Rapoport mentioned, there is a belief that Patriots assistant coach Jerod Mayo has been told he will be the next head coach of the team. Kraft came close to confirming that during the offseason.
Belichick needs 16 more wins to tie Don Shula as the winningest coach in NFL history. If he wants to continue to chase that record, he may have to do so elsewhere.
