Bill Simmons Casts Some Doubt On Bill Belichick Joining Falcons
Interest in Bill Belichick might not be widespread across the Falcons organization.
Belichick, who completed his second interview with Arthur Blank and company last week, appears to be one of the top head coaching candidates for Atlanta. But on the latest episode of his podcast, shed light on potential pushback on the Falcons’ Belichick pursuit.
“The Atlanta thing, there’s a lot of buzz going around right now about the Atlanta job, that the executives are there are trying — and I’ve heard this, I’m telling you from so many different people — basically Arthur Blank wants to hire Bill Belichick. And all the front office people in Atlanta don’t want to hire Belichick because it’s like any big company — sport franchises are like microcosms of all big companies,” Simmons said, as transcribed by the New York Posts.
“The people that run the franchise, they just want to keep their jobs. They’re in job preservation mode, so they’re like ‘Maybe we hire Raheem Morris.’ Yeah, you hire Raheem Morris, he’s young, you’ll have your job for five more years.
“You bring in Belichick — you think Belichick’s going to listen to like (John) McKay’s kid … or (general manager Terry) Fontenot? He’s going to be like, ‘I’m going to do my own thing.'”
Simmons’ report was in line with one from Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, who explained how Belichick likely wouldn’t be on the same page as Falcons CEO Rich McKay. Perhaps fear of this potential strife is why Atlanta’s search reportedly is “wide open” and Belichick’s candidacy recently has “lost momentum.”
Belichick’s options might not be limited to the Falcons, though. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on Tuesday reported the coach’s market is more robust than it seems and one of the interested teams currently has a head coach in place.