Bill Belichick to the Giants is unlikely, but not impossible
Bill Belichick won a pair of Super Bowl rings with the Giants, four years apart. He also lost a pair of Super Bowl rings to the Giants, four years apart. Now, with the Giants' head-coaching job open and Belichick available for the couch-cushion buyout of $1 million, could Belichick return to New York?
When he was asked about the possibility on Tuesday, Belichick didn't rule it out. And while it appears that the NFL collectively has ruled him out, it only takes one team to rule him in.
As Chris Simms pointed out during Wednesday's PFT Live, Belichick has influence over someone in the organization. He's believed to have been instrumental in the team's decision to hire Joe Judge in 2020. And Belichick had early notice that the team would be hiring Brian Daboll in 2022, given that he accidentally texted congratulations to another "Brian" in his phone's contact list.
The challenge becomes getting G.M. Joe Schoen (who's running the search) on board with the possibility of a Big Blue Belichick reunion. Falcons owner Arthur Blank ultimately didn't hire Belichick in 2024 after, it's believed, an internal uprising sparked by concerns that Belichick would neutralize (if not eliminate) much of the front office.
If Belichick has been sufficiently humbled by his post-Patriots NFL snubs to embrace being the coach and only the coach, could it work?
Belichick is regarded by many as the best game-day coach in NFL history, able to whip up a game plan that will allow his specific collection of players to beat the opponent's specific collection of players, regardless of who the opponent may be. If guardrails can be put in place to keep Belichick from throwing his weight around (and from bringing his consigliere and his creative muse along with him), maybe it could work.
The biggest red flag, frankly, is the 2022 decision by Belichick to put defensive specialist Matt Patricia in charge of the offense. As we said at the time, if any other coach had done that, the widespread reaction would have been to question the head coach's fitness and/or sanity.
Then there's the NFL's dirty little secret of age discrimination. Teams routinely skew young at key positions, with notable exceptions (such as the Raiders hiring Pete Carroll in January 2025). Will the Giants think Belichick, who turns 74 in April, is too old for the job?
Still, if he's going to coach any NFL team, the most likely team would be the Giants. As Simms speculated on Wednesday, Belichick may have spent plenty of time on Monday and Tuesday working the phones for an opportunity to return to the Giants' organization.
Given the presence of a potential franchise quarterback in Jaxson Dart, maybe Belichick could improve on his 84-104 record in games played without Tom Brady.
As long as Belichick doesn't make a defensive coach Dart's primary tutor.