Before Bill
Belichick officially joined the University of North Carolina, the iconic head coach did his due diligence on the impending NFL hiring cycle. Over the past year, reporters and pundits tried to connect Belichick to a number of NFL coaching gigs, and through it all, there seemed to be one consistent sentiment: He would never return to the Jets.
Not so fast, according to Dianna Russini. According to The Athletic reporter, Belichick recently reached out to the Jets organization to express interest in their head coaching job. There were never any formal conversations between the two sides considering the rapid developments with the Tar Heels. But while Belichick’s camp tested the NFL waters in search for his next coaching gig, it’s shocking that he gave the Jets more than a cursory look.
There’s been tension between the two sides for nearly three decades. Belichick was famously chosen to replace Bill
Parcells as the Jets sideline leader, but after only one day in the role, he shocked the NFL world by resigning as “HC of the NYJ.” Belichick was quickly scooped up by the Patriots (who ultimately had to send the Jets a first-round pick), and the head coach proceeded to torment his former franchise over the following years.
Belichick dropped three-straight games to the Jets to begin his tenure in New England. After that, the Patriots proceeded to go 38-9 against their division rival (including playoffs), with Belichick earning six Super Bowl rings during that span. The coach has also been publicly critical of Jets owner Woody
Johnson, and he’s carried that rhetoric into his 2024 media role. The Jets were also responsible for launching the 2007 Spygate investigation, a factor that Belichick has always held against the rival (and former protege Eric
Mangini). In other words, it would have been a shocking development for the coach to suddenly go crawling back to the organization.
On the flip side, if Belichick did return to the NFL, it was assumed he’d be interested in a win-now squad. The Jets were built to contend for a Super Bowl in 2024 before things went off the rail. Belichick has also shown a deep respect for Aaron Rodgers, and with other foundational pieces on both sides of the ball, you could see why any coach would be interested in the Jets job for 2025.
Belichick appears to be committed to UNC for the long haul, so his reported interest in the Jets job would merely be a footnote in his football story. Still, there’s no denying that the pairing would have shocked the NFL world and commanded headlines for much of the offseason.