Bill Belichick sounded like a man who isn’t very fond of the liberties that some NFL teams have recently taken with their head coaches.
Belichick was asked Tuesday about the firing of Josh McDaniels, who was relieved in Denver after less than two seasons on the job. McDaniels began his tenure in Denver with six consecutive victories, including an overtime win against the Patriots, but the Broncos had since lost 17 of 22 games.
“We keep any conversations between Josh and myself between us, but yeah, of course, I was disappointed to see that for Josh,” Belichick said. “Unfortunately, I know what that feels like, but I’m disappointed for him and his family.”
McDaniels joined Wade Phillips (Cowboys) and Brad Childress (Vikings) as NFL coaches who have been fired this season. Last season, Phillips helped the Cowboys win their first playoff game in 13 years, while Childress led the Vikings to their first NFC Championship game in 11 years.
There’s a constant demand to win now in the NFL, and patience hasn’t been one of the league’s greatest virtues in that regard. Whether that’s right or wrong is something that should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis, but Belichick, who was fired after his fifth season with the Browns in 1995, sounded a bit agitated with those business practices.
“That’s the third one of those we’ve seen this year, so it’s certainly not uncommon,” Belichick said of McDaniels’ firing. “That’s kind of the way it is in the NFL these days. Things can turn around in a hurry. Minnesota, one year they played in the NFC Championship. Halfway through the next year, they’ve got a new coach. You see a lot of that in the National Football League these days. I’m not that sure I fully support all of that, but those aren’t my decisions, so I don’t know.”
