Any mention of bill belichick and the atlanta falcons includes a reference to the events of super bowl Li: in houston, the former’s new england patriots erased a 28-3 lead over the dirty birds en route to a 34-28 victory, the penultimate of six vince lombardi trophy hoists during his near-quarter-century at the helm.
Another loss, one faced against all odds, seems to have come to define this bizarre relationship. The athletic’s jeff howe reported on the star-crossed pairing of belichick and the falcons. Atlanta immediately called belichick in for an interview after his mutual departure with the patriots, but instead hired raheem morris.
The absence of a job offer comes from a common refrain that has accompanied belichick’s recent nomadic fate: creative control, or lack thereof. “they were each on a fact-finding expedition to see if the organization’s power structure was the right one to sustain success with belichick, who had become accustomed to total control over football operations, as falcons owner arthur blank was determined to keep his leadership structure intact,” howe wrote. “in addition, sources close to Belichick cited a frosty relationship with falcons president rich McKay as the primary reason the two may have decided to work together,” howe’s study states. despite seven other head coaching positions outside of new england, the falcons “were the only known candidate with a genuine interest” in recruiting Belichick.
Despite being mired in a six-season playoff drought, the falcons boasted one of the most optimistic coaching situations among the searchers, thanks to a slew of promising young talents (i.e. a plethora of young talents). Over the past few drafts, Tyler Allgeier, Drake london, Kyle pitts, and Bijan robinson) have accumulated significant money.
However, the falcons also reportedly let an apparent recency bias get in the way of belichick’s status as a spectator for the first time in almost half a century. “belichick’s) past accomplishments mattered less to the falcons than what they thought morris would do for them in the future,” howe said. “most league sources cited three primary reasons: Belichick mishandling of the patriots’ quarterback situation in recent years, his inability to maintain complete control of football operations, and a growing doubt about the coach’s ability to relate to this generation of players.”
Despite its plethora of upside, Atlanta’s offseason is likely to be defined by its quarterback search, which will aim to replace desmond ridder and taylor heinicke. The falcons were scared off by belichick’s treatment of the doomed mac jones era, who had their own problems after Matt Ryan.
Before Belichick is able or unwilling to press forward, he’ll see how long he’ll find another headset to wear. However, his post-new england outlook has already become rather grim, and his apparent obsession with a full-fledged roster dictature isn’t helping matters much.
