5 teams Bill Belichick could win a Super Bowl with
By John Buhler
There will be books written about the last 24 hours in the football world. Three hall of fame head coaches either retired or mutually parted ways with their organization. The first was Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks. Then a few hours later on Wednesday evening, Nick Saban opted to retire from being the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide. Then, it actually happened...
In the early part of Thursday morning, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots agreed to mutually part ways. The idea was that owner Robert Kraft would debate for as long as he could to assess if he and Belichick wanted to work together for another season. New England was terrible, not the same franchise it was when Tom Brady was playing quarterback for them. Oh, how things have changed.
Once Mike Vrabel was out with the Tennessee Titans, it felt like it was only a matter of time before Belichick's reign in New England was coming to an end as well. Vrabel is a potential successor for him in Foxborough, but Belichick wants to still keep on coaching. He has been tied to a few teams over the last several weeks, none more so than the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Chargers. Buckle up!
If Belichick wants to match Brady's seven Super Bowl rings, he should go to one of these five teams.
5. Carolina Panthers have a shot because they have Bryce Young already
I would not have considered this much of an option, but after further internal debate, I think the Carolina Panthers are about the worst team Belichick could conceivably turn around and win another Super Bowl with before retiring. This has everything to do with their young franchise quarterback Bryce Young, a guy who starred for Belichick's good friend Nick Saban in college just two years ago.
Young is small, but can be an effective player. He is certainly more talented than his Alabama predecessor in Mac Jones, the guy Belichick has had to work with over the last three seasons. Carolina has to replace Frank Reich this winter after owner David Tepper pulled the plug on the Matt Rhule era a little more than a year ago. To me, Belichick is a head coach the meddling Tepper would actually respect.
Under interim head coach Steve Wilks two years ago, Carolina played great defense in spite of atrocious quarterback play. This is one of only a few organizations in the NFL that is in worse shape than the Patriots. Again, it may not work for Belichick in Charlotte, but the floor is incredibly low. That means anything he does would be seen as an improvement, possibly leading to further buy-in as well.
A lot must go right for Belichick in Carolina quickly, but you have to remember how bad the division is.