After a historic 24-year run with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick's tenure with the team officially came to an end on Thursday. Throughout an ugly 4-13 2023 campaign, Belichick's status as the Patriots head coach and general manager seemed to be in doubt, and it all finally coalesced in him and the team mutually agreeing to part ways.
The Patriots immediately head into the most important offseason in recent memory in the wake of Belichick's departure. For over two decades, there had been a sense of security with him being at the steering wheel. But now that is gone. And on the other end of the equation, Belichick is a free agent for the first time in ages. Will he continue to coach, and if he does, which team will end up persuading him that they are his best shot at adding to his already pristine legacy?
There are so many questions that will be answered over the upcoming weeks, but it's clear that this is an outrageously important period for New England's future. But first, let's clean house on the Belichick news, and air out three lingering thoughts on his departure and what they mean for the Pats moving forward.
The Patriots need to hire both a head coach and general manager
Part of Belichick's greatness with the Patriots was due to the fact that he was both the team's head coach and general manager. On the field, Belichick was able to craft up schemes on both sides of the ball that would lead to wins more often than not. And in the front office, Belichick was able to put together a roster that allowed him to do what he wanted on the field. At his peak, there was not a more proficient football mind than Belichick, and that still may be true.
Moving forward, though, the Patriots would be best off by employing both a head coach and general manager in their own unique roles. The NFL is much different than it was when Belichick took over the team back in 2000. There is so much work that goes into both coaching and personnel decisions that leaving it all to one guy would likely result in stretching the staff too thin.
With a new regime taking over the team, the Patriots need a pair of football minds working in tandem to create the best team possible. Have one person focus on the product on the field, and another focus on putting together the best roster possible. This structure seems even more fitting when considering who has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Belichick as New England's next head coach.
Is Jerod Mayo the right option to replace Bill Belichick?
Despite the seemingly perfect timing of Mike Vrabel having been fired by the Tennessee Titans just a few days earlier, initial reports have indicated that defensive play caller Jerod Mayo is the leading candidate to replace Belichick currently. After spending eight seasons with the Patriots as a player, Mayo has been on Belichick's coaching staff since 2019, and Robert Kraft went out of his way to keep Mayo in town last offseason when several teams were lurking to see if they could poach him to be their new head coach.
We have seen just how difficult it has been to replace Tom Brady after he left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back in 2020, so replacing Belichick shouldn't be something that is taken lightly. And yet, everything is pointing to Mayo. Even with a handful of other top candidates like Vrabel and former defensive coordinator Brian Flores being available, it is looking like a formality that Mayo will be the next head coach.
It's understandably fair to wonder whether that's the right decision. Mayo has a reputation as a top-tier up-and-coming coach, but replacing Belichick is a daunting task, and his speciality remains on the defensive side of the ball, which is the Patriots strength. Would they benefit more from adding an offensive-minded coach, or someone with more experience? Only time will tell, but right now, it would be a shock if Mayo doesn't end up being New England's next head coach.
Robert Kraft made the right decision for the Patriots to move on from Bill Belichick
Belichick's future was in question all season long, and while some folks (myself included) had been pining for the team to move in a different direction all season long, it was always going to be tough to dump the greatest head coach in NFL history. Belichick achieved so much over an extended period of time in New England; you can't cast that all aside based off of one bad season.
But Kraft did what was best for the team by moving on from Belichick, and in a sense, Belichick did the same thing. The legendary coach had four seasons to build up the roster in the wake of Brady's departure, and while there was a brief glimmer of hope in 2021, everything came crashing down in 2023. Nobody is questioning Belichick's status as a coach, but his impact on the Patriots was not what it once was.
A new voice, both on the field and in the front office, is desperately needed for this team right now, and while moving on from a coach with Belichick's pedigree is difficult, it is the move the Patriots needed. They may struggle through a painful rebuild, but they were a sinking ship with Belichick at the helm ever since Brady's departure. By moving on from him, New England now has a fighting chance to make it through the storm and return to the top of the mountain, rather than going down with their longtime leader.
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