Big Blue View
A flirtation with the idea of Bill Belichik becoming the next full-time head coach of the New York Giants is over before it ever really started. Belichick on Friday night took himself out of the running to replace Brian Daboll.
“I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies,” Belichick said in a statement posted on Instagram.
Belichick won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots before being dismissed after the 2023 season.
He won two Super Bowls, 1986 and 1990, with the Giants as defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families. The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach Parcells’ staff for over a decade,” Belichick wrote.
Belichick, 73, is in his first season as head coach at North Carolina. Prior to that, he had spent his entire coaching career in the NFL.
Including post-season victories, Belichick (333) is 14 behind Don Shula (347) as the winningest NFL head coach of all time.
Here’s a reaction from long-time NFL columnist Gary Myers, who had recently told Big Blue View he though Belichick would take the Giants’ job “in a second.”
I admit I thought Belichick to the Giants made some sense. But that was before I was told today it would NEVER happen because Belichick had burned all bridges in the organization about 4-5 years ago and he was absolutely not going to be a candidate. I look at this as a smart face-saving pre-emptive strike by Belichick before word got out that the Giants had no interest. It should help his recruiting. We already knew no other NFL team was interested because he went through two hiring cycles without an offer. That’s why he’s at North Carolina. I always thought Belichick would come back to the Giants, his dream job in an organization he loved, but the timing never aligned. Then hard feelings developed over other issues that left the Giants bitter. The Giants are on to somebody else.
