There is speculation about Belichick’s future with his team at 4-12.
With the New England Patriots at 4-12 and in the midst of their worst season in three decades, there is a chance the upcoming regular season finale versus the New York Jets is Bill Belichick’s last as head coach. And while no decision about his future appears to have been made yet, the questions are going to linger until Day X arrives.
Belichick himself is not oblivious to these questions, nor the lack of success his team has had over the last few seasons. But even with the most disappointing season of his Patriots tenure soon to come to an end, he is staying on the track he established for himself.
Amid all the noise and speculation, the 71-year-old is focused on the Jets and the Jets only.
“Whatever success I have had, I’ve tried to go about my job the same way every week — win, lose, good years, bad years, whatever they are,” Belichick said during an appearance on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show on Tuesday.
“Each week, get ready to go for that week, do the best you can to help your team win, and after that game move on to the next one. And at the end of the season, that’s the end of the season. But on a week-to-week basis, I don’t want to spend time, or get caught up in what happened five years ago, or what’s going to happen two years from now, and a bunch of other random stuff. Just working on the Jets.”
Questions about his future are nothing new for Belichick, but the noise has never been louder than it is these days. The Patriots, after all, have not won a playoff game in five years and for the first time since his arrival are going back-to-back seasons without even reaching the postseason.
There are a myriad of reasons why his team took a nosedive in 2023, despite some initial optimism a spot among the AFC’s seven best is achievable. And some of those are beyond Belichick’s control.
With him overseeing the Patriots’ entire football operation from both a coaching and management perspective, however, he is the one ultimately responsible for success and failure. And with the latter increasing in recent years, even the seat of a six-time Super Bowl winner and future first-ballot Hall of Famer can get quite hot.
It remains to be seen whether the temperature will cool after the season and an end-of-year discussion about the future of the organization with owner Robert Kraft. Right now, every outcome still appears to be on the table — with Belichick returning in 2024 or him and the Patriots mutually parting ways as the most likely outcomes.
Whatever happens in the coming weeks, as for this one Belichick is sending a clear message: his job is to prepare for the Jets, and that’s what he is going to do.
“I’m committed to the team that I’m coaching right now, the players that are here,” Belichick said. “They deserve my best every day and that’s what I’m going to give them.”