Why The Patriots Won't Fire Bill Belichick

The Patriots stink. This has been known since their week three win over the Zach Wilson-led Jets, where at some point within that game it became surprisingly unclear which team had the better (or worse) Quarterback. The 15–10 victory was a mere technicality, as the following two weeks would see the Patriots allow 72 points while only scoring 3.

Following the back-to-back drubbings came, maybe worst of all, a loss to now-unemployed Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders, who were forced to play the entire second half with former Patriots backup quarterback Brian Hoyer. New England’s inability to overcome a one-score deficit to a team with a below-average defense and a quarterback feared by no one marked the end of the road for the 2023 Patriots. It was clear after that game that the team didn’t have a quarterback they trusted, and that Mac Jones had lost any semblance of confidence he’d built up within himself prior. This season was now becoming one of damage control and talent assessment moving forward.

Now, sitting at 3–10, with the second-worst record in the NFL, the Patriots are clearly in a state of transition. While they’re not losing games purposely, the days of Mac Jones possessing any perceived level of security have long passed, and the writing is on the wall that he is not the immediate future of this or any other NFL franchise.

Naturally, both local and national media have taken the low-hanging fruit questioning the future of the New England Patriots. Mainly, will Head Coach Bill Belichick be a part of it?

Coach Belichick undoubtedly failed Mac Jones. Whether Jones was ever going to develop into a perennially contending quarterback remains to be seen, but having an Offensive-Coordinator-to-All-pro-offensive-teammate ratio of 3:0 isn’t exactly putting a young and developing quarterback in a position to succeed…

Belichick’s also failed as a front office executive of late as it pertains to drafting and spending on skill-players. He’s missed big on Nelson Agholor, DeVante Parker, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Jonnu Smith. He drafted N’Keal Harry, Tyquan Thornton, Devin Asiasi, and Dalton Keene, of which only Thornton remains rostered, and is a fringe developing joystick wideout at best. While he’s consistently found defensive value in all phases of roster acquisition, the offensive regression is palpable and undeniably a result of Belichick’s inhibition or inability to devise a successful system without the aid of Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels.

Nevertheless, the media’s knee-jerk reaction to question his job security, and at times even call for his firing, can be attributed to recency bias and clickbait and doesn’t reflect reality.

The Patriots won’t fire Coach Belichick because he’s under contract and has market demand. There’s no denying that, after the greatest run in modern sports history, if Coach Belichick wished to continue coaching he would be presented with that opportunity from multiple franchises. This means two things:

1. Multiple multi-billionaires who spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year attempting to build championship teams believe he’s still at least one of the best thirty-two head football coaches on the planet.
2. For Coach Belichick to change teams, he would 100% be traded, as he would demand a return of assets in some form while also relinquishing the Patriots from owing the rest of his league-high salary, of which both sides agreed to an extension on… THIS SEASON.

Brandon Staley, Dennis Allen, Ron Rivera, Robert Saleh, Sean McDermott, Matt Eberflus, Kevin Stefanski, Jonathon Gannon. If any of these coaches retain their position, how could one credibly argue for the departure of Bill Belichick? Strangely, the notion is frequently pushed that a coach “hasn’t had the time” to prove that they’re not qualified for a job, yet, the premise of Belichick’s perceived shortcoming is derived from his inability to shift from a culture that he not only created and fostered but became the most successful in league history…

To conclude Belichick is unable to adapt would be to insinuate that he’s even attempted to do so. How could one blame a coach for being stuck in his ways, when those ways led him to unprecedented and historic success? Any true master would be insane to not trust their instincts up until this point in time when those same instincts were what resulted in them becoming the undisputed greatest at their craft.

NFL franchises regularly extend long leashes to coaches, (unless you’re Urban Meyer, Lou Holtz, Rick Forzano or Tommy Hudspeth) giving them a chance to prove their adaptability and value, and none of those coaches have anywhere near the same qualifications as Coach Belichick. For Robert Kraft to not extend this option to Belichick would be completely asinine, as it’s only now become abundantly clear that wholesale changes in offensive acquisition, development, and philosophy need to take place. Only now, if he’s unwilling or unable to adapt, should his future with the Patriots be questioned.

The nuance of needing major changes that don’t include the termination of Belichick lacks the sensationalism that converts into engagement and thus falls below the cut line of major and local media headlines. Football, at its best, on the surface is exhilarating, emotional, and entertaining. Below the surface, it’s complex, calculated, and highly strategic. Most of all, it’s incredibly difficult for the average fan to fully digest. This, as well as the reels/tik tok/X emergence of fast news, is why, at large, media coverage has been reduced to fluff pieces and clickbait.

The truth is Coach Belichick is still arguably the best game manager in the league. While it’s abundantly clear that he needs to cede power in the form of acquiring external help in front office and offensive coaching positions, firing or electing to move on from Coach Belichick would be a poor decision.

Bob Kraft has a long history of making correct decisions.