Former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi believes that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is considering ending his tenure with the franchise.
Belichick has been the head coach of the Patriots since the 2000 season, leading the franchise to six Super Bowl titles and nine Super Bowl appearances.
However, the team is just 1-5 to start the 2023 campaign, and the Patriots have struggled to compete in some games, losing 38-3 to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4 and 34-0 to the New Orleans Saints in Week 5.
.@TedyBruschi on if Bill Belichick's run in New England is ending:
"I think Bill Belichick is considering it. … I have always known Bill to only coach for meaningful wins … division championships, playoff wins, Super Bowls. … The meaningful wins are now all for him." pic.twitter.com/QUcvYzuwBL
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 16, 2023
“I think Bill Belichick is considering it,” Bruschi said. “And I also think Robert Kraft is the one that has to start to consider, ‘Is it time to move on?’ Because, right now, if they get a top-five pick, Mr. Kraft has to decide if Bill is the right one to take one of those three, four quarterbacks – whatever it may be – that you can possibly get and if he wants to start over with Bill.”
Since Tom Brady left the Patriots after the 2019 season, Belichick and the Patriots have struggled to find the same success that they did when he was with the team.
Brady is now retired, and the Patriots have yet to find an answer at quarterback, playing Cam Newton in the 2020 season as their main starter before turning things over to Mac Jones, a first-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
New England has only made the playoffs once since Brady left the franchise, and it has not won a playoff game.
“I have always known Bill to only coach for meaningful wins, meaningful in terms of division championships, playoffs wins, Super Bowls,” Bruschi said. “It’s shifted now. The meaningful wins are now all for him. It’s for the [Don] Shula mark.”
Shula has the most coaching wins in NFL history, while Belichick is currently third on the all-time list behind him and George Halas.
While Belichick has won more playoff games (31) than any other coach, it would be an amazing accomplishment to pass Shula for the regular season mark as well.
Unless the Patriots turn things around this season, the franchise is going to need to take a long look at its coaching staff to decide if Belichick is the right man to lead the team through a rebuild.
The team has not been able to sustain success with Jones at quarterback, and it may not be worth taking the risk of having Belichick start over with another young quarterback at this point in his coaching career.
It will be interesting to see where the Patriots go from here, especially if they finish the 2023 season with one of the worst marks in the NFL.
