Many NFL experts and fans thought that Bill Belichick was going to be the new head coach of the Atlanta Falcons after leaving the New England Patriots. But the Falcons surprisingly hired Raheem Morris as their new head coach, and Belichick’s hopes for a new job dwindled since the Falcons were the only team to interview him. And now that all the open head coaching positions are filled, the six-time Super Bowl champion coach will not be on the sidelines in 2024.
There has been much speculation as to why the Falcons didn’t hire Belichick after interviewing with the team twice. However, according to WFAN host and former NFL quarterback Boomer Esiason, it was Belichick who wasn’t interested in the Falcons, and the team made an offer.
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“I was told yesterday, and I do believe it from the source that I got it from, that supposedly Arthur Blank was bought in to Bill Belichick and could have offered him the job,” Esiason said on his Boomer and Gio show, per the New York Post. “I don’t know why guys say no, but legitimately an NFL executive basically told me that they believe that Arthur Blank offered Bill the job. Now there may have been some caveats to that offer, you never know, it’s never ‘OK Bill, I want you, here’s a five-year contract, you do whatever you want.’ I don’t think it was one of those.
“The way it was made and sounded to me was like ‘OK, I understand your concerns, but you’re gonna have to deal with some of this and we want you to come in, we want you to be the coach,’ and then maybe he just thought better of it,” Esiason said.
Belichick, 71, was the head coach of the Patriots from 2000 to 2023. During his time with the Patriots, Belichick led the team to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl wins. He was also named AP NFL Coach of the Year three times and has the record for most Super Bowl wins as a head coach. Belichick won the championships with quarterback Tom Brady. When Brady left the Patriots after the 2019 season, Belichick led the team to the playoffs just once in the last four seasons.
