Patriots Rumors: Bill Belichick’s Friends Fear Coach ‘On The Hot Seat’

For the majority of Bill Belichick’s Patriots tenure, it would have been ludicrous to question the future Hall of Famer’s job security.

But narratives quickly can change in the NFL, where it’s really all about what you have done lately.

Recent life in Foxboro hasn’t been very easy for Belichick, whose Patriots finished under .500 and missed the playoffs in two of the first three seasons after Tom Brady’s departure. Those years also featured the emergence of Mac Jones, a highly drafted quarterback brought in with the hope of righting the ship and potentially spearheading a new successful era in New England.

The Patriots received a mixed bag from Jones across his first two seasons, but those so-so results apparently didn’t prevent the 24-year-old from forming a tight bond with team owner Robert Kraft. The Boston Globe’s Ben Volin dug into Jones’ relationship with Kraft in a column published Tuesday, which included an interesting nugget about Belichick’s future.

“Robert Kraft already made it clear in March that he wants the Patriots to make the postseason and win a playoff game for the first time in five years,” Volin wrote. “He also paid Jerod Mayo handsomely to keep him off the coaching market and likely views him as the team’s coach-in-waiting. And Belichick’s friends have privately said they are worried that he is on the hot seat in 2023.”

Belichick probably has accrued enough sweat equity in New England to be able to go out on his own terms. But the fact that a “hot seat” conversation is even on the table is a stark reminder that times have dramatically changed for the Patriots.