Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick parted ways with the Patriots in January.
He then began interviewing with other teams, including the Atlanta Falcons. A new report suggests Belichick was willing to give up the same power he held in New England, most notably the general manager duties, and just focus on coaching.
Belichick held the general manager role with the Patriots organization since 2001. He enjoyed a tremendous amount of success, before the organization started to struggle in the post-Tom Brady era. Many believed Belichick would get hired in this coaching cycle, but it never came to fruition.
ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler put together a report that, in part, detailed Belichick’s interview process with Falcons owner Arthur Blank and team executives:
And in the pair of interviews with Blank and Falcons executives, sources said, Belichick pledged his willingness to co-exist with Falcons executives under this new paradigm. In fact, he insisted he just wants to coach. But the Falcons realized that if you hire Bill Belichick, you hire all of him, an entire philosophy and ethos stemming from one man’s ethic and ingenuity, sources said.
Belichick ultimately didn’t get the job in Atlanta. A source in the ESPN report believes Patriots owner Robert Kraft was a big reason for that. The owner reportedly placed a call to Blank and warned him not to trust Belichick.
One has to wonder how big the rift between Kraft and Belichick really was, as more and more stories come out regarding the separation of the two. This could be a classic case of two big egos getting in the way.