When Bill Belichick stepped away from the New England Patriots at the end of the 2023 NFL season, many assumed that the legendary head coach and surefire first-ballot Hall of Famer would find a spot on the sidelines for this season.
That did not materialize. But it does not mean that Belichick is stepping away from the game he loves.
If anything, he is getting even more involved in the NFL, albeit on the side of the microphone he seemed to enjoy pestering during his years as a coach.
Belichick has lined up multiple analyst roles for the upcoming season, including an announcement on Wednesday that he was taking on a role as a “strategic advisor” to The 33rd Team, an “an emerging media and technology company focused on providing unparalleled NFL insight through an unmatched roster of NFL-experienced contributors” as described in Wednesday’s press release. In addition to this role, Belichick will contribute to the following outlets throughout the upcoming NFL season:
- A weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show;
- A first-half appearance with Peyton and Eli Manning on each episode of The Manningcast;
- A weekly Friday show with Peyton Manning breaking down the upcoming Monday Night Football matchup;
- A spot on Inside the NFL working with Ryan Clark, Chad Johnson, and Chris Long breaking down the NFL,
- An appearance with Jim Gray on the weekly Let’s Go show on SiriusXM, and;
- His own show on Underdog Fantasy
In many ways, the moves underscore what was part of the Belichick persona during his years in New England. The old saw about a Belichick press conference was this: “Ask him a football question, get a football answer.” If you were to ask Belichick something about who the starting quarterback would be next week, you would get the gruff “we’re onto Cincinnati” response.
But if you asked him something about the mechanics of long snapping, or blocking angles from an unbalanced line, what you got in return was a lengthy discourse on the history of the game and deep analysis of the strategy involved.
In some ways, this future was foretold last winter, when Belichick stopped by the College GameDay set ahead of Army-Navy, which was held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, home of the Patriots. Belichick’s appearance showed another window into his potential future as an analyst, and an amusing — and brilliant — one at that:
“I am excited to work with such a talented group of coaches and executives to innovate and advance how we teach the game of football,” said Belichick in Wednesday’s announcement from The 33rd Team. “I look forward to utilizing my many years of studying and coaching the sport to help The 33rd Team develop analysis that serve as a resource to fans, coaches and teams of all levels.”
As with many NFL seasons before, you are going to see a lot of Belichick this year, and perhaps a side of him you might not be familiar with.
But one that should help everyone understand the game a little more.
