To those who are hoping the New England Patriots move on from Bill Belichick, Devin McCourty warns that the grass may not be greener on the other side.
Despite the Patriots' dismal 2023 season -- and the team's overall struggles in the post-Tom Brady era -- McCourty isn't convinced moving on from the legendary head coach is the right move. The former Pats defensive back explained why during a conversation with Tom E. Curran on a new episode of the Patriots Talk Podcast.
🔊 Patriots Talk: Devin McCourty goes deep on Patriots at crossroads | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube
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McCourty believes the way New England has competed over the last month shows Belichick still has a positive impact on the team.
"Are they getting better? Are they improving as a team? And if you let your head coach go, will the next head coach get this team to play better than the way they're playing right now? I think that's ultimately the decision that has to be made," McCourty said. "Do you think there's (someone) better out there to get this team moving forward? And for me right now, after watching this team this last month, I would find it really hard to believe that you can say, 'Hey, if we move on, we know for sure that we're going to be better without Coach Belichick.' ...
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"If you look across the league, a lot of teams, it gets ugly, right?" he added. "You see more and more guys on IR. You see bad football, sloppy football. Guys are just showing up, not watching film, not doing anything," he said. "You saw the complete opposite with this team. This team has rallied and fought, and I don't know what the rallying cry has been inside, but it's working, and they're going out there and playing. It'll be interesting to see."
While McCourty acknowledges the Patriots need to make significant moves this offseason, he's hesitant to consider the head-coaching situation as an area that needs to be addressed.
"Ultimately, though, you can't have a season where you finish in the top five for the draft next year and not have changes," he said. "Like, changes, no matter what happens, whether you keep your head coach or not, I don't think you just say, 'You know what? Everything's fine. We're going to do this all again.'
"No, you're going to have changes and you're going to have big changes because you didn't go to the playoffs last year, you haven't been the standard of football or competed for your division the last few years. ... You have to make some kind of big changes. I definitely think that. I just don't know if the big change at head coach is it. I just don't know."
Also in the episode with McCourty:
- What went wrong with Mac Jones?
- Why Jerod Mayo would be a good head coach.
- Why Patriots won't tank against Jets.