For the first time since the 1974-75 NFL season, legendary coach Bill Belichick won’t be on any team’s sideline.
His 24-year stint with the New England Patriots ended after last season, and despite multiple interviews with the Atlanta Falcons, Belichick wound up on the outside looking in and will spend the season on The CW’s Inside the NFL.
It remains to be seen whether Belichick’s coaching absence is permanent or temporary. On Tuesday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero was a guest on The Rich Eisen Show. And from what Pelissero has been hearing, Belichick’s time away from the sidelines will be short.
It’s always fun when @TomPelissero sits in with the guys because we get to ask him wild things about the #NFL — Tom dips into the Helmet Full of Questions!#DaBears #RaiseHail #ForTheShoe #Belichick pic.twitter.com/IvN75qcO2r
— Rich Eisen Show (@RichEisenShow) July 16, 2024
“Bill Belichick intends to coach in 2025,” Pelissero said. “He’s staying engaged in the game… He’s now going to be on Inside the NFL. We’ve seen him showing up to different events at the Manning Passing Academy. We saw him at the University of Washington, where his son Steve is now the defensive coordinator,” he added.
Does Belichick, who has the most Super Bowl wins and appearances in NFL history, have anything left to prove? To Pelissero, it comes down to the all-time wins record.
“He’ll be trying to better himself. He’ll be trying to remind you that he’s not Darth Vader, that there’s more to Bill Belichick. He’s done a good job of that so far through his media stuff. He wants to coach again. He wants to pursue the all-time wins record. Those are things that really matter a lot to Bill Belichick.”
Belichick has 302 regular-season wins in his career, just 26 behind Don Shula’s record of 328.