Bill Belichick will likely be the most sought after free agent in the upcoming offseason's coaching carousel. After moving on from the New England Patriots, Belichick shockingly didn't end up with a job, as he was notably passed over for the Atlanta Falcons in favor of Raheem Morris. But the understanding thus far is that Belichick will be a hot commodity once the regular season ends.
While the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles were popular landing spots for Belichick, there is a now a new team linked to Belichick and it is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Yes, the currently 2-9 Jaguars.
It acutally makes a lot more sense than you'd imagine, especially with recent reporting.
Bill Belichick landing with Jaguars actually makes more sense than you'd think
There was buzz earlier this week about the Jaguars being a potential landing spot for Belichick, With regime changes likely coming, ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio reported that some in the NFL believed general manager Trent Baalke could keep his job as part of a package deal with Belichick arriving as the new head coach. The duo worked together on the New York Jets in 1998 and 1999, where Belichick was defensive coordinator and assistant head coach, while Baalke was a scout.
Dianna Russini, senior NFL insider for The Athletic, said shortly after that Jacksonville was a "potential destination" for Belichick and that it was unlikely a partnership with Baalke would take place. In fact, Russini later said during an episode of the Scoop City podcast that Belichick "certainly has his eye on the Jacksonville opening."
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer mentioned in a recent article that Belichick would listen to the Jaguars, but only if they reset the front office.
"I think Bill Belichick will listen, given his relationship with Shad Khan’s son, Tony, as long as he can set it up the way he wants. I think some bright, young offensive coaches, like Lions OC Ben Johnson, could be lured by the chance to do for [Trevor] Lawrence what Sean McVay did for Matthew Stafford after Stafford was the victim of such mismanagement in Detroit. I think the Jags legitimately have a solid job to sell here.
"But that’s only so if they reset in the front office, the same way they will on the coaching staff."
As we saw during his time with the Patriots, Belichick was the de facto general manager as well as the head coach. All personnel decisions ultimately came down to him. The thing is, his decisions recently resulted in the Patriots missing the playoffs every year since 2021. But given Belichick's pedigree of six Super Bowl wins in New England, teams are going to look past it, especially a team as desperate as the Jaguars.
Additionally, Belichick won't have to worry about finding a quarterback if joining Jacksonville. The team has Trevor Lawrence, who was a phenom during his time with the Clemson Tigers. While he certainly hasn't played up to the level as he did in college, he is still viewed as a top quarterback in the league, and he's only 25 years old.
Through his career, Lawrence has thrown for 13,744 yards, 69 touchdowns, and 45 interceptions while completing 63.4 percent of his passes.
Of course, it would be interesting to see who Belichick would bring in with him to help get the most out of the team. The usual suspects could be Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia, and Joe Judge, all of whom would scare off teams. Those names did play a role in the Falcons passing on Belichick altogether.
Either way, Belichick will seemingly have his choice of which teams to interview with this offseason. Even though the Jaguars have been one of the worst teams in the lague in recent memory, some factors could intrigue Belichick.