Bill Belichick landed his first NFL coaching gig in 1975 as a special assistant on Ted Marchibroda’s Baltimore Colts. To put that in perspective, it was so long ago that 48-year-old George Blanda was still playing in the NFL. It was so long ago that Robert Kraft was a little-known part owner of the Boston Lobsters in World Team Tennis. It was so long ago that most NFL fans under age 50 have no memory of the Colts being based in Baltimore.
This is the Bill Belichick of 2024: He is a combination of rock star and raconteur, mobbed everywhere he goes as he talks about the inner workings of football (and lacrosse) and spins tales about his experiences from a half-century in the NFL.
It is good to be Belichick. Yes, it must be noted that he was fired as coach of the New England Patriots after the 2023 season, but for now, it looks as if he is enjoying himself away from the stresses of an NFL sideline.
Belichick, 72, is wealthy. He looks healthy. He has lined up a smorgasbord of well-compensated media gigs. He was spotted taking in a spring football practice at the University of Washington, where his son Steve is the Huskies’ new defensive coordinator. He attended a Northwestern women’s lacrosse game against Ohio State.
Oh, and there was that springtime visit with the Nebraska football program, which included a clinic with the players and an in-depth skull session with the coaching staff. For those who did not catch coach Matt Rhule bubbling over Belichick, here are some highlights:
“He is so smart, has seen so much, that he can make the complex so simple, that it humbles you and embarrasses you,” Rhule said. “I was embarrassed yesterday listening to him, how smart he is, how simple it was.
“He went four and a half hours just with the coaches — forget the clinic,” said the Nebraska coach, who was born in 1975, around the time Belichick was settling in at Wesleyan for the spring semester of his senior year. “He came in and met with our coaching staff. Three and a half hours in, I was, like: ‘Coach, would you like a water? Or coffee? Would you like to use the restroom?’ Because I desperately had to use the restroom.
“And he’s like, ‘I’m fine, man,’” Rhule said. “And I was, like, yes, sir. Just sitting there and just talking, and his recalls from things 15 years ago. The only reason why we don’t get through more information is because he’s having to slow down to make sure you know what he’s saying.”
See? It’s good to be Belichick. For anyone who thinks he is locked away on Nantucket, twirling ball bearings in his hand and pining for the glitz and glitter of the NFL, that does not appear to be the case.
And yet it makes sense that Belichick will eventually resurface as a head coach, and sooner rather than later. All it will take is one owner whose blood is boiling over an early-season loss, then, presto: There is Belichick at the introductory news conference, saying how happy he is to be the new head coach.
The what’s-in-it-for-Bill part, besides a truckload of dough, is that Belichick desperately wants to surpass Don Shula for NFL career coaching victories. Shula amassed 347 coaching victories (playoffs included) in his 33 seasons with the Miami Dolphins (1970 to 1995) and the old Baltimore Colts (1963 to 1969), and Belichick, with 333 coaching victories, needs 15 to move into the top spot.
Some context is required. We all have egos, and to be recognized as the NFL career leader in anything is pretty cool. There are also those who believe Belichick is looking to deliver Shula, who died in 2020, some sort of celestial payback. Shula had some unflattering things to say after Belichick’s 2007 Patriots were caught secretly recording defensive signals being relayed by New York Jets coaches.
“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula told The Daily News. “You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.”
Shula was also quoted as referring to Belichick as “Beli-cheat.” Not very original, but extra weighty considering Shula’s place in NFL history. And I believe it is history that calls to Belichick.
We have all heard stories about Belichick and football history, how he owns an extensive collection of books on the subject. We have heard about his Friday news conferences during the Patriots years and how, with the game plan for Sunday having been mapped out, the media questions having all been asked, the interview room reduced to sturdy beat writers who actually know a thing or two about football, Belichick would meander to football history. It was story time, and he could tell those stories without notes.
Belichick has made plenty of history. He has coached six Super Bowl-winning teams, eight if you count his years as a defensive wizard with the New York Giants under Bill Parcells.
We can talk ego. We can talk Shula payback. But I say it is making history that inspires Belichick, that motivates him. Until then, there is Nebraska football and Northwestern women’s lacrosse, along with “Inside the NFL” on The CW, the “Manningcast” on ESPN and other TV gigs.
It is good to be Belichick, all right. For him, it will be even better when he has registered his 348th coaching victory.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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