Big Blue View
Bill Belichick was not included in our recent list of 10 possible head-coaching candidates for the New York Giants should they move on from Brian Daboll at the end of this season. Could Belichick, though, actually return to the NFL to become head coach of the Giants?
“I think Belichick would do it in a second,” long-time NFL columnist Gary Myers said on Wednesday’s ‘Valentine’s Views’ podcast.
Myers, a former columnist for the Dallas Morning News and New York Daily News, has also authored seven books. His latest is ‘Brady vs. Belichick.’ Myers knows Belichick and Giants co-owner John Mara as well as anyone.
Belichick, of course, won six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots. Including post-season victories, Belichick (333) is 14 behind Don Shula (347) as the winningest NFL head coach of all time. After failing to get an NFL job when he was let go by New England after the 2023 season, he is now plying his trade to mixed reviews in the college football world at North Carolina.
“I know that’s (the record for victories) important to him, although he’ll never admit that,” Myers said. “I also know it’s important to him to win a Super Bowl without (Tom) Brady. I think it’s something Belichick very much wants to do.”
Belichick, of course, was Giants’ defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells from 1985-1990, a period that saw the Giants win two Super Bowls. Perhaps the greatest mistakes of George Young’s outstanding tenure as Giants’ GM was rejecting Belichick and making Ray Handley head coach in 1991.
“He (Belichick) loves the Giants,” Myers said. “I mean he LOVES the Giants. He gets emotional and melancholy reminiscing about his Giant years. Although that was a long time ago, the Giants have stolen his heart.
“I do know that John Mara has a good relationship with Bill. Whether that means he would hire him, I don’t know.”
There would be obstacles to bringing Belichick to the Giants.
Belichick isn’t available, technically. He is coaching the North Carolina Tar Heels, where things are not going as anyone had hoped. North Carolina is 3-5, 12th in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and there are plenty who wonder if Belichick and the staff he brought in actually understand college football.
Belichick is still in Year 1 of a five-year, $50 million contract. Belichick could buy his way out of his North Carolina contract for $1 million. Of course, the school could also fire him, but that would be costly.
I don’t, honestly, see Belichick’s current job as a real impediment. There are others.
Belichick turns 74 next April. It is clear he still has the energy and passion to coach, and Myers detailed above some of the reasons he would be motivated to get back on an NFL sideline. Pete Carroll, 74, is showing with the Las Vegas Raiders that he isn’t too old...
