Bill Belichick (left) grabbed headlines last night. Bucs GM Jason Licht (right) is his former protégé.
Bucs ownership may already be hunting a quick-fix head coach for their talented defense and veteran, big-money quarterback.
The odds seem flimsy that Team Glazer, if it wants to keep Baker Mayfield next season, would want to hand him off to a newbie head coach when the Todd Bowles regime ends.
Of coure, there’s no obligation for the Bucs to continue with Mayfield. But that seems to be the highly likely path at quarterback, and Joe can find $55 million reasons why.
Watching Bill Belichick’s Unversity of North Carolina team lose by three points to No. 1 ranked University of Miami last night had to affirm to anyone still skeptical of Belichick’s coaching chops — at 74 years old — that he can develop players and lead a team.
Arguably the greatest coach in NFL history likely wants another crack at the NFL. Belichick is 15 wins short of the all-time NFL record.
He wouldn’t command a long-term contract because of his age. He likely would want a team capable of winning quickly in a sour division. Team Glazer consulted with him on a coaching search 15 years ago.
Joe is not advocating for Belicheat in Tampa, but he sure would be an intriguing and attractive candidate if the Bucs finish the final 10 games this season playing solid football (a 6-4 record?) and leaving fans wondering/knowing what could have been with a seasoned winner.
Joe thinks Team Glazer would love the local and national interest Belicheat would inject into the team, and the fact that Belicheat would be less of a total financial commitment than many other options.
As for Buccaneers Ring of Honor general manager Jason Licht, he worked side-to-side with Belichick in New England. Joe has not doubt Licth would say, “I can work with Bill.”
Food for thought as Todd Bowles tries to up his regular season home Bucs record today to 19-20.