No, Bill Belichick won’t be Giants’ defensive coordinator

Belichick still has things to accomplish as a head coach, and if he wants it he will get the chance.

Bill Belichick is done with the New England Patriots, ending what is likely the greatest run for a head coach in NFL history. Belichick and Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft have come to what is being described as a mutual parting.

With Belichick’s departure from New England having been expected this week, and Wink Martindale looking for a new job, the Big Blue View mailbag has been filled with “would Belichick ever consider coming back to the Giants as defensive coordinator?” questions.

Let me answer that simply and succinctly.

No.

I don’t have inside information on that. I can’t call Belichick and ask him. I’m not going to call Giants’ coach Brian Daboll or GM Joe Schoen and propose the idea.

The reality is this: Belichick taking a defensive coordinator job, even one with a franchise like the Giants he has always had great affection for since being Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator all those years ago, make no sense. None Zip. Zero.

Belichick is 71 years old. He has run the show in New England since 2000. He has only two reasons to continue to coach, and neither of those involves explaining to Daboll why is running a certain defensive scheme that week.

1. To eclipse Don Shula as the winningest NFL coach of all-time. Including post-season, Shula has 347 career victories. Belichick has 333. You can bet that Belichick knows the numbers and wants that record.
2. To prove that he can win without Tom Brady. The post-Brady years in New England have not been kind to Belichick. Brady won a Super Bowl with the Bucs in 2020. Belichick’s teams have gone 29-38 with three losing seasons and one playoff loss in four Brady-less seasons. The narrative has been Brady proved he could win without Belichick, but Belichick has not proven he can win without Brady. If he is going to continue to coach, changing that narrative has to be part of why.

There is already speculation that the Atlanta Falcons and Los Angeles Chargers might want to court Belichick. There will be others. You think Jerry Jones would take Belichick over Mike McCarthy if the Dallas Cowboys flame out in the playoffs again? I do. How about Belichick to the Washington Commanders?

Belichick as Daboll’s defensive coordinator is a quaint notion. It is, though, fantasy. Belichick still has things to accomplish as a head coach. If he wants the opportunity, he will most certainly get it.