Maybe, after a few years apart, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are finally starting to realize life for them is better when they’re together.
It’s definitely better for Belichick when they’re together. Brady, however, appears to be doing just fine as he keeps drinking from the fountain of youth, won another Super Bowl and landed a $375 million broadcast deal from Fox. But is it possible Belichick could seek to ride the coattails of Brady’s Fox deal?
During this week’s Thursday Night Football broadcast on Amazon’s Prime Video, Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit pushed through a fit of banter by attempting to speculate on Belichick’s future. Is Belichick primed to finally leave New England after leading the Patriots to what will likely be their worst record in more than three decades? Does he coach another NFL team, or maybe he gives lacrosse a try? Eventually, Michaels landed on the possibility of Belichick teaming up with Brady again.
Al Michaels and Kirk Herbstreit speculate on the future of Bill Belichick.
“How about this? If he goes (the TV analyst route), they put him in the booth with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady next year on Fox… Or he goes on tour with Jon Bon Jovi.”- Al Michaels 🏈📺🎙️ #TNF pic.twitter.com/jLp4Jy5Xmq
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 8, 2023
“Does he go into television? You know how crazy that sounds, but he won an Emmy on that best of 100 show with Cris Collinsworth and Rich Eisen. Did a fantastic job,” Michaels said. “How about this, if he goes into television, they put him in the booth with Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady next year on Fox.”
For as bad as Belichick is with the media during the season, the gruff head coach does occasionally portray a more entertaining personality on camera. As Michaels noted, Belichick won an Emmy two years ago for his role as an analyst on NFL Network’s NFL 100 All-Time Team series. Belichick’s performance in the 30 for 30 The Two Bills was also very well-received.
Even though Michaels flippantly posed the theory of Belichick going to Fox, it’s not the first time the Patriots head coach has been linked to a TV gig. Greg Olsen recently told Richard Deitsch of The Athletic he thought Belichick would be “very fascinating” as a game analyst. Although he probably wasn’t thinking he could be replaced by Belichick in the booth.
Joe Buck also recently said he thought Belichick’s next stop might be at Fox, before quickly claiming he was kidding. The idea of Belichick being an analyst somewhere isn’t crazy. But putting him in the booth with Brady seems farfetched. If Brady really is taking this year to hone his craft as an analyst before joining Burkhardt to form Fox’s lead broadcast crew, he probably isn’t going to want Belichick forced in there as well.
Assuming he has any interest in TV at all, Belichick might want to rejoin Brady because he’s struggled to succeed without former quarterback. But Brady already proved he can be just fine without Belichick.
