Peter King Buys This Theory About Bill Belichick’s Weak Market

Ten years ago, virtually every NFL franchise would have given up a great deal to pry Bill Belichick out of New England to coach their team.

But times have changed, and Belichick no longer is held in the same regard as he once was.

This was made clear after the future Pro Football Hall of Famer left the Patriots earlier this month. Only one team set up an interview with Belichick, and the Atlanta Falcons ended up choosing Raheem Morris over arguably the greatest football coach of all time. There’s now a good chance Belichick will have to wait until 2025 if he wants to keep coaching.

Every team likely had its own slate of reasons for why it didn’t actively court Belichick. But NBC Sports’ Peter King believes there was at least one common thread across those clubs.

“One other theory I buy for the market being cool to him is that most teams over the past decade have built staffs of football analytics people, with pipelines to the coaching staff and urging from management for coaches to use the work of these brainiacs,” King wrote in his latest Football Morning in America column. “Belichick’s been lukewarm, at best, to analytics. So, an owner who hires Belichick might have to fire a part of the building in which they believe strongly.”

It remains to be seen if Belichick is humbled by his first free agency tour in decades. The 71-year-old probably could make himself a more appealing candidate by tweaking his approach, but conviction is also a big reason why Belichick has had so much success in his career.

Regardless, Belichick figures to have a more robust market next year than this time around.