Bill Belichick unveils first media gig after leaving Patriots

Belichick appeared on the Pat McAfee Show on Wednesday.

For the first time in over two decades, Bill Belichick will not be submitting any draft cards to select players during the NFL Draft. But, that does not mean he won’t be involved.

Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show Wednesday afternoon, it was announced the former New England Patriots head coach will serve as a co-host on draft night during McAfee’s Draft Spectacular on ESPN, while also taking part in the preview show.

The announcement was made the same day that it was reported that Belichick will likely partner with ESPN and Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Belichick said Wednesday. “Draft Day, draft weekend, is always an exciting time for everybody… For everybody involved in it. It’s a great event. I’m looking to seeing it from the other side.”

Despite not being with a team this season, Belichick has kept a similar pre-draft routine. While he is familiar with most of the prospects through draft work in year’s pasts, Belichick has been grinding the film as if he was still set to be on the clock next week.

“Watching the players, specifically the ones that might be involved in our show, so the guys in the top part of the draft,” Belichick said. “Just trying to do some preparation. I watched a lot of these guys in the fall, even some from last year when they were juniors or when they weren’t coming out but they were still factors in evaluating the players in the ’23 draft. Just kind of an ongoing process. It’s fun to keep up with it. I always enjoy this part of the season.”

Throughout the night, Belichick will be set to share his findings on all of the prospects selected throughout the first-round. He also noted they’ll have their own draft room set up as if they are the “33rd team” to discuss trades and anything else that teams may be discussing.

“I can give a little insight what those conversations are like. I’ve made a few,” he joked.

Belichick shared a glimpse of those discussions when opening up about his first-round trade back last year with the Patriots. The moved allowed Pittsburgh to jump in front of the New York Jets to take offensive tackle Broderick Jones, while New England still landed their top target in Christian Gonzalez.

“We were pretty confident that the Steelers were looking for a tackle,” Belichick shared. “We were really interested in the corner… [We would have] stayed there and taken Gonzalez if there wasn’t a trade available.

“We didn’t know that the Steelers were going to take the guy the Jets wanted, I mean I would say we weren’t heartbroken that that happened, but that’s the way it goes. In the end we ended up getting the guy that we wanted in Gonzalez.”

For all of Belichick’s breakdowns and insights on draft night, ESPN announced that the Draft Spectacular will air on YouTube, TikTok, the ESPN App and ESPN+ next Thursday, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.