It's a mystery how much longer New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will spend on an NFL sideline.
Don Shula's NFL wins record is in Belichick's view, which seemingly would keep him coaching for the next few seasons. But the aging Belichick, who will turn 71 years old on April 16, still also oversees the Patriots' football operations and his performance in that job has come with plenty of criticism due to Belichick's unique roster constructions and coaching staff decisions over the years.
Many believe that Belichick the coach is far superior to Belichick the general manager. So, could he give up one of the positions in the future as he's on the back nine of his time in the NFL?
ESPN's Max Kellerman painted a picture of Belichick relinquishing his role as New England's general manager and staying on to coach. But Charlie Weis, who served as Belichick's offensive coordinator on the Patriots from 2000-04, could see the opposite happening.
"I could see him being the GM but not the coach," Weis said on the "Keyshawn, JWill & Max Show" recently. "You're not going to get any better than him as coach. He's the greatest coach ever in most people's eyes. I don't think he'd want to take a step down from there. I can see a point eventually where you end up transitioning -- let's say (Jerod) Mayo's the guy. I could see a point eventually where Mayo's the guy and Bill's running the front office."
While most Patriots fans would probably prefer Belichick staying on to coach longer instead of moving solely into a front office role, it's a plausible scenario that Weis lays out.
The Patriots are very high on Mayo and he seems to be at least one of the candidates in line to take over head-coaching duties once Belichick moves on. Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke glowingly earlier this week about Mayo, who joined New England in a coaching capacity in 2019 and has served as a co-de facto defensive coordinator the last couple of seasons.
But if Mayo does become the next Patriots head coach, Weis believes he wouldn't pull double duty like Belichick has done.
"I think all these top-line head coaches are heavily involved in personnel, but trying to wear both those hats in today's game I think is almost impossible," Weis said.
