By Marvin Moore September 21, 2023
Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest head coach in the history of the NFL. He has won 17 AFC East division titles and advanced to 13 AFC Championship Games. His six Super Bowl wins are unprecedented. But the future Hall of Famer has posted a 25-27 record heading into the third week of the 2023 season. It’s time for Belichick to ride into the sunset.
The 71-year-old New England Patriots legend is the second-oldest coach in the NFL. His 329 victories are just 19 shy of passing Don Shula to become the league’s all-time winningest head coach. However, Belichick would likely need to coach three more seasons to surpass Shula’s 347 wins. That would be a trio of mediocre years for a franchise unaccustomed to being average.
It’s no secret that Belichick wants to break Shula’s record for personal reasons. The late Miami Dolphins coach irked Belichick with his comments after the infamous Spygate scandal in 2007.
“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished; you would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments,” Shula said at the time. “They’ve got it!”
Belichick grew up idolizing Shula and was angered by his disrespectful comments. His desire to take the all-time wins record from Shula is motivated by revenge. But the Patriots are 0-2 this season and will be hard-pressed to earn double-digit wins. Belichick’s petty reason to continue coaching might tarnish his impressive record with a string of losing seasons in the twilight of his career.
There were whispers that the legendary coach should consider retiring last year. Ringer CEO Bill Simmons, a diehard Patriots fanatic, openly said what many New England fans thought after an ugly loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
“It’s time, Belichick needs to retire. Yeah. He does. He needs to retire,” Simmons said on his podcast. “I went back, I wrote this column in 2006 after the Bill Parcells season when the Cowboys lost and Parcells… remember when he sort of just kinda lost it? It was kinda sad and we were like ‘remember when Parcells was an awesome coach, now he’s out of it, he’s taking pay cheques, doing dumb stuff’.”
Belichick is not the first legendary coach to be pushed out of the door. Tom Landry was 63 years-old when Jerry Jones fired the long-time Dallas Cowboys head coach. He was also 17-30 over his last three seasons roaming the sidelines for America’s Team.
There is also the possibility that Belichick will follow in Tom Brady’s footsteps and leave the Patriots after this season. If the legendary coach doesn’t lead New England back to the playoffs for the third time in four years, owner Robert Kraft has hinted he might make changes.
“Look, I’d like him (Belichick) to break Don Shula’s record, but I’m not looking for any our players to get great stats,” Kraft said in March when asked if Belichick’s job could be in jeopardy if the Patriots failed to make the playoffs this season. “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.”
Although Belichick is one of the greatest head coaches ever, finding a new job would not be a slam dunk. Belichick is also the Patriots’ de facto general manager, with extensive authority over the team’s football operations. Thus, his new team would have to fire both their head coach and general manager to hire the geriatric football coach and executive.
The NFL is a “what have you done lately” league, and 2023 is shaping to be Belichick’s fourth straight uninspiring campaign. He has struggled to win consistently without Brady, and this season could be his worst team since he posted a 5-11 mark in his first season with the Patriots.
Belichick won’t retire until he breaks Shula’s record. But there are no guarantees he will get the chance to become the winningest coach in league history. For the sake of his incredible legacy, Belichick should walk away from the game with the dignity he has earned.
