NFL Media Hosts Believe Bill Belichick Would Make Great TV Analyst

The Patriots built one of the greatest dynasties in sports in two decades, and that has been on display in the NFL media landscape, which has many fans wondering if Bill Belichick would ever put his analyst hat on when his New England tenure is over.

The 2023 season hasn’t gotten off to a great start with the Patriots sitting at 1-3 start for a third season in a row. Belichick turned 71 this year, and it’s led to speculation about when his coaching days are over.

When that happens is only up to Belichick and Robert Kraft, but the expectation among outside observers is that the New England head coach simply would retire into the sunset and move away from the spotlight. However, Michael McCarty of Front Office Sports speculated about how well Belichick would be as an NFL broadcast analyst.

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McCarthy pointed out how Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Jason McCourty, Devin McCourty and Julian Edelman are front and center on major broadcasts. Belichick is the NFL’s highest-paid head coach at $20 million, according to Front Office Sports. But the eight-time Super Bowl champion has a vast knowledge of the game that could be valuable for any broadcast. It’s a belief shared within the industry.

“Belichick is super, super engaging with those he talks to. He knows the history of the game inside and out,” NFL Media’s Peter Schrager told Front Office Sports.

“I work with Edelman on FOX and McCourty on ‘Good Morning Football.’ You look around the landscape, Brady is coming, Gronk is with FOX, Devin McCourty is on NBC. There’s a little Belichick tree of media guys. You better believe they all say, ‘If you really got to know Bill, you’d look at him in a different way. Or if you heard him in a meeting he’s hilarious. Or Bill is the smartest guy.’

“If Belichick ever wanted to do this, I would be a captive audience to listen to him on one of these shows. He’d be great.”

Brady is set to debut in the FOX booth next season, but industry insiders believe he’d be one of the top color analysts when he does take Greg Olsen’s spot.

The Belichick media tree certainly has fared better than the coaching tree, and as Schrager noted, former players like Edelman have been at the forefront of how witty Belichick is in private compared to his stoic nature in news conferences.

“Sometimes the delivery is gruff — or he doesn’t want to get into the game side of it. But his takes on other things in life, I think, are tremendous,” said NFL Media’s Jamie Erdahl, who covered Boston sports while at NESN.

Belichick showed his playful side when he talked about Taylor Swift and her relationship with Travis Kelce. And he showed how engaging he can be on ESPN’s “The Two Bills” documentary and on the “NFL 100” special.

It’s unthinkable that the head coach who is notorious for giving vague or short answers would make the transition to the broadcast side of the game. But he has the tools to be must-watch television if he ever does.