Bill Belichick's 24 seasons as the head coach of the New England Patriots is the fifth-longest tenure of any coach with any team in NFL history, trailing only George Halas (40 seasons with Chicago), Curly Lambeau (29 seasons with Green Bay), Tom Landry (29 seasons with Dallas), and Don Shula (26 seasons with Miami). He's spent nearly a decade longer as the head coach of the Patriots as Red Auerbach did as coach of the Boston Celtics. This is all to say that Bill Belichick is an institution in Boston, Massachusetts. And that's precisely what makes this latest chapter of Belichick's time in New England so discouraging.

I'm mostly indifferent when it comes to the New England Patriots. I don't necessarily understand the vitriol of fans who don't have a really good reason to hate New England. But as a fan of the NFL and as someone who has a deep appreciation of the history of the league, I find it sad that we've arrived at the point where a 71-year-old Bill Belichick — arguably the greatest coach in NFL history and someone who truly and wholeheartedly loves the game of football — is refusing questions about his job security and remaining steadfast in his insistence that he's just focused on the Patriots' next game, an otherwise meaningless contest against the Indianapolis Colts.

Unfortunately, that's exactly where we are.

When Belichick addressed the media on Monday morning, he not once, but twice dodged questions about the state of his job, according to Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald. First, when asked if he believe he may be coaching for his job against the Colts, Belichick responded, “I’m going to control what I can control and I’m going to get ready for the Colts.” When asked later if he had received any sort of assurance from Robert Kraft that his job was not in jeopardy, Belichick again shut it down really quick, saying, “My focus is on getting ready for the Colts.”

Some will say that this is just typical Belichick, bristling at the very notion he needs to engage with the media. But that's a flat out mischaracterization of who this man is. Bill Belichick is one of the most brilliant football minds that's ever come through the NFL, and in the right situations, he's more than willing to discuss the intricacies and history of the game in such a way that novices like you or I would never be able to. He deserves better than this. He deserves better than going down in such unspectacular fashion with Mac Jones and an abysmal, 2-7 Patriots team.

Now I know not everyone will see things from my point of view. And that's fine. But for as long as I've been a football fan who could piece together coherent thoughts about the state of the league, Bill Belichick has been there, along with Robert Kraft and Tom Brady, helping to turn the Patriots into the gold standard of consistency and excellence in professional sports in the 21st century.