Patriots Rumors: New Details Of Bill Belichick-Bill O’Brien Spat

Bill Belichick never threw in the towel in his final season with the Patriots, but he clearly knew where things were headed in New England.

An ESPN column published Friday detailed Belichick's incredible run with the Patriots, who decided to part ways with the legendary coach Thursday. A series of notes and nuggets provided by Seth Wickersham and Wright Thompson all told a similar story: As New England's 2023 season grew worse and worse, Belichick was fully aware that his days in Foxboro, Mass. were numbered.

According to Wickersham and Thompson, this impression impacted how Belichick operated across his final weeks in New England.

"The building felt different," the ESPN scribes wrote. "Belichick spent more time alone in his office. Over the decades he'd give assistant coaches projects toward the end of the season, preparing for the draft or free agency. He didn't do that this year.

"In one staff meeting, (Bill) O'Brien got angry with Belichick during a discussion about running plays. He stormed out. The rest of the coaches were quiet, unsure of what to do. Belichick just let it go, knowing it all would be over soon."

Belichick might've been particularly done with O'Brien, who was hired last year perhaps to the chagrin of the former. Belichick reportedly wanted to keep Matt Patricia as offensive coordinator after the Patriots' lousy 2022 season and rejected a request made by O'Brien shortly after he returned to New England.

O'Brien reportedly is likely to keep his job and work under new head coach Jerod Mayo. But if O'Brien ends up following Belichick out the door, another old Foxboro friend could return to the organization.