Jump to content

Does Belichick's job survive another losing season?


notthatbluestuff

Recommended Posts

Just look at his answer to "why should fans be optimistic for the future?" 

"The last 25 years."

The problem is that looking to the past doesn't change anything about the Pats' mediocre recent form. They're a non-factor; not great, not horrible, just kind of there with their division rivals strong and (in theory) getting stronger. How long does Kraft put up with it?

Can Bill Belichick survive another non-playoff season? Robert Kraft doesn’t directly answer the question

Quote

Patriots owner Robert Kraft said plenty of interesting things during a press conference in Arizona on Monday. What he didn’t say was perhaps even more interesting.

Consider this question: “You guys have posted a losing record two of the last three seasons . . . if that happens again, could Bill [Belichick’s] job be in jeopardy, or is he here to break Don Shula’s all-time wins record and beyond?”

Kraft paused for a second or two before responding.

“Look, I’d like him to break Don Shula’s record, but I’m not looking for any our players to get great stats,” Kraft said. “We’re about winning, and doing whatever we can to win. And that’s what our focus is now. And I — it’s very important to me that we make the playoffs, and that’s what I hope happens next year.”

Obviously, the stat in question when it comes to Belichick chasing Shula’s record is wins. Arguably implicit in the response is the notion that Belichick needs to have enough wins this year in order to have a chance to compile even more wins in 2024.

Belichick needs 30 regular-season wins to catch Shula.

The Patriots may have had more wins last year, if Belichick hadn’t made former defensive coach Matt Patricia the team’s offensive coordinator. Kraft was blunt with his opinion that it was not a good idea.

“I think he got put in a difficult position,” Kraft said. “And I think it was sort of an experiment. And he worked very hard at it. And in retrospect, I don’t think it was the right thing. And I feel bad for him, because he’s such a hard worker. He got put in a difficult position.

The fact that responsibility for the experiment flows directly to Belichick quite possibly increases the pressure on Belichick to turn it around.

Yes, six Super Bowl titles mean something. But they don’t buy an indefinite run of mediocrity. At some point, the past is the past and the present is murky and the future carries insufficient promise. That’s when changes get made.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this is gonna be the 1st time in forever where NE will be look at as the 4th best team in it's div. I think the team is kinda boring, but how the NFL world reacts to how their season goes will be interesting. uncharted territory for a generation of fans to see the pats in this position. I think bill job security there should be up to him. He probably has only 3-4 yrs left..let it end on his terms

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I think another losing season puts him in the hot seat.  But he'll get the 2024 season to right the ship, at least.

No one is immune from firing.  NFL is a very, very "what have you done for me lately" type league.

Agreed, although if it does ever happen, it'll probably be framed as a "retirement"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, 49ersfan said:

Agreed, although if it does ever happen, it'll probably be framed as a "retirement"

Definitely. And I could see them letting him get to the win record beforehand, but the idea that he can never be fired just has no merit imo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Daniel said:

I think another losing season puts him in the hot seat.  But he'll get the 2024 season to right the ship, at least.

No one is immune from firing.  NFL is a very, very "what have you done for me lately" type league.

Agreed. He really needs to hire a real GM. Coaches who do both basically never work out in any sport. It is too much in today's game. 

I heard somewhere that BB makes as much as 20m per season. 

Does anyone know how many more years he has on his contract? Apparently, Kraft has a reputation of not spending money, so he may not want to pay Bill that kind of money to coach another team. 

At some point he should just retire. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...