Is Bill Belichick retiring? Ex-Patriots HC’s future in NFL explored after snubs in 2024 coaching cycle

The biggest news from the 2024 NFL hiring cycle involved Bill Belichick - kind of, considering that he has not signed to coach any team in the upcoming season. The head coach left the New England Patriots after 24 years, but no team wanted him to lead their players for the future.

So, what's next for the head coach? After failing to land the Atlanta Falcons job, it was clear that there weren't many options left, and that's exactly what happened. Bill Belichick isn't going to coach in 2024, but one thing must be clear: he's still not retiring yet.

There's the clear objective of breaking Don Shula's record of most wins by a head coach in the history of the league, fueled in part by Belichick's despise of Shula due to the latter's comments about the 2007 Spygate scandal. He's not going to coach in 2024, but Belichick is also not retiring from the NFL.

Why did the Patriots and Bill Belichick part ways?

Bill Belichick is currently unemployed, as crazy as it sounds. The former New England Patriots head coach left the team after two straight losing seasons, with owner Robert Kraft and director Jonathan Kraft feeling that they should inject new blood inside the team. The last four years have not been great, to say the least.

The greatest head coach of all time was supposed to be a highly-coveted candidate now that he was free to go to another team. But it didn't happen. His exit from New England prompted plenty of questions about his ability to lead in a new era.

Those who played with him, however, were adamant about his quality. A few weeks ago, former Patriots superstar Rob Gronkowski urged Arthur Blank to hand the Falcons' keys to Bill Belichick:

“I would 100% hand over to coach Belichick, he has a proven record of being able to handle it," he said on Up & Adams. "He handled it very well for however long he was in New England, what was it 20 plus years in New England. He knows how to do it, he's got experience so hand it over to him. He's going to change the program over.”