Could head coach Bill Belichick ever be fired?

By: Tayyib Abu

Bill Belichick is the greatest head coach in the NFL’s modern era. The veteran head coach led the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships. The man is a legend in the New England area. He helped turn around a woeful franchise into the greatest dynasty in all of sport.

Last year though, something strange happened. The Patriots ventured into their first year without quarterback Tom Brady, and the Patriots missed out on a playoff spot. Most fans of the team from Foxboro viewed 2020 as a blip.

But, what if it wasn’t? What if this is the start of a slide, and will the Patriots sink back into ignominy? Would Belichick ever get stuck on the hot seat in the cold confines of Massachusetts?

Many would suggest that Belichick will never experience life on the hot seat. However, I will take a different approach with the article, I will examine how he could come under pressure.

The first and most obvious answer would be that the Patriots experience a significant downturn in competitiveness.

Instead of a 2020 blip, the Patriots would need to enter a deep malaise of six-win seasons. The great Soccer coach Arsene Wenger did something like this. When he first arrived, his team won everything; he built a dynasty. His team even went 38-0 for an invincible season.

By the time Wenger left, the fans had booed and hounded him out of the head coaching position. Belichick would need at least half a decade of missing out on the playoffs for the heat to get turned on him.

Add multiple losing seasons to Belichick’s demeanour and attitude; then, he may get put under a lot of pressure. Belichick is a hard man to like; everyone respects him; however, the constant grumbling, cold demeanour is hostile when building a relationship with fans. Belichick’s endless arrogance and contempt for the media is something that will turn fans if that gets wrapped with a bouquet of losses. Fans despise coaches who walk around with an air of arrogance, no matter how much success they’ve enjoyed in their career.

You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain. Fans are loyal to the team, no one else. Bill Belichick is the greatest thing that ever happened to the Patriots; however, he is not the Patriots. He is not bigger than the Patriots organization, and in the fickle world of sport, losing breeds contempt.

Contempt leads to disrespect and unhappiness. Add Belichick’s narcissistic attitude, and that is a recipe for someone to be planted firmly on the hot seat.