After not landing a solid head coaching job ahead of the 2024 regular season, Bill Belichick has decided to take the year off. However, he will likely return to coaching if a good enough opportunity opens in 2025.
Recently, while on Bill Simmon’s podcast for The Ringer, NFL writer Steven Ruiz predicted Belichick’s next team. He discussed the Jacksonville Jaguars as a likely scenario.
Bill Belichick to the Jaguars?@theStevenRuiz joined @BillSimmons and explains why he expects Belichick to be the head coach in Jacksonville next season. pic.twitter.com/XSNFavL73s
— The Ringer (@ringer) September 20, 2024
“Bill Belichick is gonna be coaching the Jaguars next season and we’ll know it by New Year’s. It won’t be official but it will be the worst kept secret in the NFL,” Ruiz said.
“First of all, I know some beat reporters down in Jacksonville and I think there’s already whispers there. I’ll start with that. The real reason why I believe this is Shad Khan is a hands off owner. I don’t think he’s gonna get spooked like Atlanta did when Bill Belichick comes in and goes ‘I want to run the organization like this. I want to have GM powers. I want to be able to hire my own coordinators. I want to be able to decide the direction of this franchise.’ I don’t think (Khan) is gonna get spooked by that,” he continued.
The Jaguars’ start to the season is looking pretty bad. They are 0-2, with losses to the Browns and Dolphins. Furthermore, if it worsens, it makes sense for the team to move on from Doug Pederson and focus on Belichick.
Bill Belichick Wasn’t very Successful As A HC Outside Of New England
Of course, before becoming the head coach of the Patriots, Bill spent five years at the helm of the Cleveland Browns.
In those five years, he accumulated a 36-44 record. However he did make the playoffs once in 1994 after going 11-5.
It begs the question if he can restart a struggling franchise or if he’s better off starting with a team that already has a lot of solid pieces.