When former head coach Bill Belichick left all his meetings with the Atlanta Falcons during the hiring process this offseason, he felt confident that the job was his.
But something clearly changed, and the Falcons made it official that they went in a different direction, ultimately hiring Raheem Morris.
According to ESPN, when Belichick heard the news, he was "blindsided."
And what made things even worse was where Belichick finished among all the candidates.
"What Blank didn't say was that he and his top lieutenants had voted on the team's next head coach, ranking each candidate," ESPN wrote. "Bill Belichick didn't even finish in anyone's top three."
It also seems that Patriots owner Robert Kraft played a role in why Belichick didn't get the job.
A source close to Belichick told ESPN that they believed "Blank came away from the boat thinking this is my guy." But then things went downhill.
As expected Blank reached out to Kraft regarding Belichick, but the owner didn't give such a glowing recommendation. Speaking with ESPN, one source who talked to a longtime Belichick confidant relayed what they had been told: "'Robert called Arthur to warn him not to trust Bill.' That account was backed up, the source said, by the close Kraft friend."
Belichick believed he "he had done everything right," so clearly something changed the Falcons' minds.
And it explains why he felt so blindsided when the news came out.
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