Tom E. Curran joins Felger and Holley on BST to discuss Bill Belichick’s continued presence on television, and why he may not make his return to coaching.
The timeline makes plenty of sense: After a tumultuous final season with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick does TV for a year, showcasing his immense football knowledge and rarely-seen charisma while making everyone forget about his 29-38 record since Tom Brady's 2020 departure. With his image fully rehabilitated, Belichick chooses from a fresh batch of NFL head coach openings in 2025 and resumes his pursuit of Don Shula's all-time coaching wins record.
That'd be a nice story for Belichick -- but Patriots Insider Tom E. Curran believes there could be a plot twist.
As Curran explained Thursday on Boston Sports Tonight, it's possible Belichick enjoys his 2024 media tour so much that he decides to stay in television and fully close the door on a return to coaching.
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"We all presume that he has to get that white whale of the Shula record," Curran said. "I believe that at some point he's going to say to himself, 'This is really fun. I'm enjoying it. People revere me. They're all genuflecting and telling me how great I am.'
"'Why do I want to go to Philadelphia? Why do I want to go to Dallas and have these writers up my ass and stand there at the podium and talk about how much we're gonna pay Dak Prescott? I don't want to do that. I'm not gonna do that. I like this.'"
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Belichick indeed seems to be enjoying himself this offseason. The legendary coach had The Pat McAfee Show hanging on his every word when he joined the program for a live NFL Draft show in April, then received near-universal praise for showing up at Netflix's Roast of Tom Brady and making light of any past tensions. He's slated to join The CW's "Inside the NFL" show during the 2024 season alongside former players Ryan Clark, Chad Ochocinco and Chris Long and likely will thrive in his analyst role.
"Nobody can get enough Bill because now he is out from behind the podium, he's wearing a tie, and he's talking the way that we all knew that he could," Curran added. " ... When he chooses to be excellent and engaging, he is. ... He's a very, very intelligent guy, and this is the best thing he can do (by going into TV)."
This will be Belichick's first season without an NFL coaching job since 1974, so perhaps he'll get the itch to return to coaching next winter. But to Curran's point, it's very possible Belichick succeeds in his new TV analyst role, at which point the 72-year-old may choose to stay on the comfortable path rather than dive back into coaching and risk further tarnishing his legacy if he can't produce immediate results.
