Patriots coach Bill Belichick declines to discuss coaching future after latest New England loss
After the New England Patriots lost 17-3 against the New York Jets on Sunday, Bill Belichick was his typical, often terse, self as reporters asked whether the six-time Super Bowl winning coach will be back next year.
After the Patriots ended the season 4-13, the 71-year-old, who has coached in New England for 24 years, said he would only address questions about the game, not his job status.
“As far as the future goes, I will sit down with (owner) Robert (Kraft) as I do every year at some point at the end of the season and we will talk about things as we always do,” he said at the news conference. “I’m sure that will happen, but that’s really about I got to say about that right now because there’s not much to talk about it.”
Belichick was asked whether he had any “different feelings” walking off the field, to which he responded, “Disappointed.”
“Disappointed by the way the game turned out. Sure. Yeah, we will leave it at that,” Belichick said.
He was asked multiple times whether he expected to remain in New England but deflected each time.
“Just finished the game here with the Jets. Put everything I had into it and disappointed in the results,” Belichick said.
Before ending the news conference, Belichick said he still “enjoyed coaching.”
“I like coaching the team, preparing the team, game planning, coaching on Sundays but the results weren’t good and none of us are happy with those,” Belichick added.
Special Teams Captain Matthew Slater, who played 16 seasons for Belichick, said he saw no quit in his coach despite the terrible season.
“As a team, we’re a reflection of our coach in that we competed all the way to the end. Regardless of the scoreboard, regardless of our record, regardless of what was going on around us, we kept fighting. I think a lot of that can be attributed to the man who’s steering the ship,” Slater told reporters. “He didn’t turn it down, he didn’t shut it down, and I have so much respect for him, especially in a year like this.”
Belichick is second on the all-time head coach victories list with 333 wins in the regular season and playoffs. His teams won Super Bowls after the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons.
Belichick also won rings in 1986 and 1990 as a defensive assistant with the New York Giants.
The second title earned him his first NFL head coaching role, where he took over the Cleveland Browns in February 1991 at the age of 38 – the NFL’s youngest head coach at the time. He was fired four years later as the team moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens.
Belichick was soon reunited with former Giants head coach Bill Parcells as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach with the Patriots before eventually following him to the New York Jets to continue to coach under the future Hall of Famer.
Upon Parcells’ departure as head coach in 1999, it was arranged that Belichick would succeed his longtime mentor in the role.
However, in one of the most memorable news conferences in NFL history, Belichick resigned from the position just one day after assuming it, instead choosing to become the head coach of the Patriots.
