One of the NFL rumors that swirled during the offseason was that the Atlanta Falcons were seriously interested in hiring Bill Belichick as their head coach. Belichick had spent the previous 24 seasons as head coach of the New England Patriots, but the two sides parted ways earlier this offseason.
The Falcons were considered the most likely landing spot for Belichick, but they ended up going in a different direction. Atlanta hired Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris to take over as their head coach.
Not too much has been shared about what swayed the Falcons into going in a different direction. But, recent reports indicate that it was Patriots owner Robert Kraft who played a major part in Belichick not landing in Atlanta.
Belichick reportedly met with Falcons’ owner Arthur Blank in a one-on-one meeting on his yacht. A bigger meeting was held at Blank’s house where executives for the team were also present. By all accounts, Belichick had done everything right, including assurances that he wasn’t looking for total control as he had throughout his tenure in New England.
Working with the people who were already in place, such as general manager Terry Fontenot, was an important part of the process. The Falcons weren’t going to remove everyone to make room for Belichick, and he seemed accommodating to that.
However, when Blank checked with references, such as Kraft, he didn’t receive the kind of answers he was looking for. As shared by Warren Sharp on X, some excerpts from the piece at ESPN are damning for Belichick. Trust was broken between Belichick and Kraft, which he warned Blank of.
“Kraft found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant,” as written in the article at ESPN.
Belichick didn’t land a head coach job in this cycle and it will be interesting to see if he does next year. The Falcons seemed like a good fit for him as they have the pieces in place to quickly become a playoff team with improved play under center, which they should get from Kirk Cousins once he is healthy.
But, with news of how damaging the references Kraft gave Blank, Belichick’s chances of coaching again have taken a serious hit. There are some franchises that may be willing to look past it, but Belichick certainly didn’t get a ringing endorsement from his previous boss and it likely cost him the head coaching job with the Falcons.
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