Time for Belichick to leave on own timeline
This is starting to feel like Tom Landry’s final days as an NFL coach, just before he was ingloriously put out to pasture. Or maybe it will be more akin to Don Shula, who trudged into a retirement that seemed forced on him.
Athletes rarely know when it’s time to go, and that unwillingness to face reality certainly applies to coaches, too.
Which brings us to Bill Belichick.
He’s stubborn and ornery and downright defiant about his future, insisting that he’s looking no farther than New England’s upcoming game against the Chiefs.
“I’m getting ready for Kansas City,” Belichick droned over and over and over again when the subject of his future came up this week.
But the Patriots coach needs to start thinking about his legacy. Secure as it is, Belichick’s obstinance is starting to look more like delusion as the game clearly passes him by.
Time for the 71-year-old grumpy lobster boat captain to call it a career, with some degree of dignity, before the Patriots are forced to toss him back.
New England owner Robert Kraft would certainly be justified in handing Belichick his pink slip if he won’t go quietly into the night.
Since Tom Brady departed at the end of the 2019 season, the Patriots are 28-35. Given this season’s 3-10 debacle — only the Carolina Panthers have fewer wins — it’s become crystal clear that the only chance Belichick has of rekindling one of the greatest dynasties in American sports history would be to invent a time machine for his former quarterback.
In a sense, Belichick has already stayed on too long. His reputation has taken a huge blow these last four years, as it’s become apparent how much of an impact Brady had on New