Throughout his time with the New England Patriots, head coach Bill Belichick has also retained control over the team’s personnel as he’s also served as the team’s general manager in each of his 24 seasons with the team. But in a surprising turn of events, it sounds like he would be willing to give up that role if it meant staying with the team.
During his Monday press conference, Bill Belichick was asked whether or not he would be open to giving up control of the team’s personnel, and he seemed to indicate that he would indeed be open to that move, saying he would do “the best thing to help our football team.”
“I’m for whatever we collectively decide as an organization is the best thing to help our football team,” Belichick said. “I’m here to work to help our team every day. That’s what I’m going to do.”
It’s a pretty surprising move given that Belichick has served as the team’s general manager for over two decades and many assumed he wouldn’t be willing to give up these duties, and the NFL world had a lot to say about it on social media as a result.
It’s certainly not gonna be as clean as I thought it was going to be. He clearly wants to be here
— masshole (@MuntTheMasshole) January 8, 2024
Bingo, Bill has lost several key personnel figures during the last 5-10 years and replacing them with the same quality (see caserio vs groh) has been difficult. Need better scouting (hire from teams like rams, cincy, eagles, 49ers, ravens.)
— all my teams lose in heartbreaking fashion (@ajones2513) January 8, 2024
He has to if he stays. He can't build an offense.
— Heather 🇺🇲 🇮🇪 (@Heather66981705) January 8, 2024
Not looking good for the "he won't give up GM duties" crowd.
— MM (@Impliedhades) January 8, 2024
Think Belichick mentioning that someone needs to have the final say is key here.
He may take a step back from the process, but he'd likely still be in charge with the ability to override decisions he doesn't agree with. https://t.co/IbNEttw9EV
— Taylor Kyles (@tkyles39) January 8, 2024
Good news for the people that say Belichick wouldn’t give up personnel control to Howie. https://t.co/7AHqKBcXx9
— Jack Fritz (@JackFritzWIP) January 8, 2024
No reason the GOAT HC shouldn’t remain in New England then if the first part is true https://t.co/gFUkN7tJQZ
— Daniel ⚒ (@DanielCutter) January 8, 2024
i’d be 100% fine with Belichick coaching still if he’s 100% not our GM https://t.co/m9xjcXQmlB
— bradyn (@howard_114) January 8, 2024
We’ll have to see whether or not this is something that ultimately happens.
