Bill Belichick reportedly said the New England Patriots weren’t the only ones who took a risk in the year 2000.
Talking to ESPN, Belichick reacted to comments from Patriots chairman Robert Kraft, who claimed he took a “big risk” in hiring Belichick. As the longtime coach pointed out, the Patriots weren’t exactly a dominant force in the NFL before he took the job.
He claims he had a number of voices telling him to steer clear of New England and instead stick with the New York Jets.
“I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots’ coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles,” Belichick said to ESPN. “I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success.”
At the time, Belichick was already in line to take the head coaching gig with the New York Jets. Belichick had been named the successor to Bill Parcells, who (temporarily) retired in 1999.
Belichick shocked the NFL by immediately leaving the Jets by resigning on a napkin. Instead, he went to New England, which traded away a first-round pick for the right to hire Belichick.
Last week, Kraft told Julian Edelman’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast that he took a “big risk” in hiring Belichick when he did.
Kraft also called it the best move he ever made. However, Belichick’s comments to ESPN appeared to focus on the mention of “risk.”
“As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job,” Belichick said to ESPN.
Things worked out pretty for New England, which won six Super Bowls during Belichick’s 23 seasons with the team.
The Patriots parted ways with Belichick after the 2023 season, turning to Jerod Mayo and then Mike Vrabel as head coach. Belichick, meanwhile, was out of coaching for one season before taking the head coach job at North Carolina, his first-ever college head coaching gig.
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