Bill Belichick isn’t coming back to the NFL to coach the Giants — or any other team for that matter.
The six-time Super Bowl winner and University of North Carolina head coach announced Friday night that he “[has] not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies” in the wake of rumors that he might pursue the Giants’ vacancy.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families,” Belichick said in a statement on Instagram. “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,” he added. “However, despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.”
Belichick, 73, was never a likely candidate to fill the Giants’ seat vacated by Brian Daboll’s firing this past Monday.
His text messages to Brian Flores in 2022, which were prematurely intended to congratulate Daboll for landing the Giants job, are at the center of a discrimination lawsuit against the NFL, Giants and other teams.
That’s one reason the Giants don’t feel the same way about Belichick that they used to.
Belichick also was miffed when the organization forced GM Dave Gettleman on his former assistant, Joe Judge, for a second season in 2021 and then fired Judge after two years, even though Judge had been promised three at minimum.
The Giants are expected to place a high value on previous NFL head coaching experience in their current search. But Belichick would want to change a lot more in the Giants organization than they would be willing to allow.
The rest of the NFL hasn’t shown much of an appetite for bringing Belichick back to the pros, either.
He seemed to be the frontrunner for the Atlanta Falcons vacancy one year ago, but the rug got pulled out from under him and the Falcons hired Raheem Morris instead.
The reality is, Belichick made plenty of enemies during his time winning six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots, including Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
So he left for college to keep coaching. And now he says he’s never coming back.
