Bill Belichick is happy to avoid "worst part" of HC duty in 2024
Bill Belichick, for the first time in more than two decades, isn’t leading a franchise to the start of the regular season. The veteran coach might miss the excitement and thrill of competition, but the 72-year-old revealed the part of his duty that he won’t be missing.
The former New England Patriots coach oversaw several generations of football players in his tenure of almost 50 years as NFL coach. However, on Monday, Belichick, during his appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show, said that trimming the roster down to 53 men was the part he found most difficult.
“Well, that's the worst part of the job as a head coach in the National Football League," said Belichick. “That's 100% the worst part of the job, and most of it happens this weekend, or has already maybe happened in some cases. But you have players that come in and they have dreams, and they do everything you ask them to do.”
Bill Belichick highlighted that on average, around 37 players fail to make the final cut each season. And apart from 5-10 stars on a team, everyone’s worried about their future.
“And it's a tough part of the job," added Belichick. “It really is. And then when you have to tell the player, ‘Look, it just wasn't, we're just not able to keep you’. I mean, I always tried to have a lot of compassion for those guys and what they went through. And at the same time, we try to help them in any way I could.”
The eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach also revealed during his early days in Baltimore that he was the designated bearer of bad news to the players. As such, he was nicknamed in 1975 as ‘Bad News Billy’.
Bill Belichick has a new job at hand
Bill Belichick might not be putting his brain to devise strategies this year, but he’ll be using it to uncover other coaches’ thinking. Belichick has scored two gigs on TV for the upcoming season.
‘Monday Night Football’ on ESPN and ‘Inside The NFL’ on CW will utilize Belichick’s expertise this season to draw in the viewers. A coach with his experience and insight is certainly highly qualified to be an expert on TV.
Fans would love to hear from the former coach as he now explains tactics and strategies rather than formulating them.