Bill Belichick is possibly the greatest coach in NFL history, and yet, he was left without a proverbial chair when the music of the coaching carousel stopped this offseason. While many will point to Belichick's age (71) and propensity for control throughout the New England Patriots organization, Robert Kraft, the Patriots' owner, reportedly had a pretty significant part in Belichick being unemployed.
ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Jeremy Fowler reported today that during Belichick's interviewing process with the Atlanta Falcons, Falcons owner Arthur Blank called Kraft to get his thoughts on potentially hiring Belichick to replace Arthur Smith as Atlanta's head coach.
“Blank spoke by phone, at least twice, to Robert Kraft. Among the NFL owners, Blank considers Kraft his closest friend. Publicly, Kraft and Blank have said Kraft expressed only support and offered praise of his former coach,” the article reads. “But in a conversation with Blank, Kraft delivered a stark assessment of 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.
“Multiple sources said that Kraft spoke with ‘some candor' to Blank about Belichick, though the sources declined to elaborate. One source close to Belichick said Kraft ‘was a big part' of why the Falcons passed on hiring him.
Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft's relationship
The interpersonal relationship between Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft, while outwardly successful, appears to have deteriorated to such a degree that Kraft reportedly stopped Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as Patriots head coach, from landing another high-profile job.
For his part, Kraft denies disparaging Belichick in a call with Blank.
“Robert steadfastly denies saying anything negative to Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick after Robert and Bill mutually agreed to part ways,” Patriots spokesman Stacey James said. “In fact, Robert advocated for Bill to get the job.”
James did seem to indicate Kraft may have expressed negative thoughts about Belichick to Blank previously, though.
“It would not surprise me to learn that owners sometimes lament to those close to them when their teams are struggling,” James said, “but Robert Kraft never questioned Bill's character or trust when talking with Arthur Blank. Trust is important to Robert. He wouldn't have employed Coach Belichick for the past 24 years if he ever questioned his trust.”
Whether Kraft played a role in the Falcons passing on Belichick or not, Blank opted to hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who served on Dan Quinn's Atlanta coaching staff from 2015 to 2020 and became the Falcons' interim head coach when Blank fired Quinn after an 0-5 start to the 2020 season. Morris led the Falcons to their only four wins of the season and was passed over for the full-time job in favor of Arthur Smith, who had risen through the ranks of the Tennessee Titans' coaching staff.
In three seasons with Smith at the helm, the Falcons went 7-10 and failed to finish within the top two of the NFC South each year.
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