Bill Belichick says he put everything he had into this season and still enjoys coaching. But following the end to his most tenuous season as an NFL coach, it remained very much unclear whether he'll ever do it again for the New England Patriots.
The New York Jets snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots with a 17-3 win Sunday in what could have been Belichick's final game with the franchise for which he hoisted six Lombardi trophies.
“A disappointing year for all of us — players, coaches, staffers, the entire organization," Belichick said immediately after the game. “As far as the future goes, I’ll sit down with (Patriots owner) Robert (Kraft) as I do every year at some point. …
"That’s all I have to say about that right now, because that’s all there is to talk about.”
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The Patriots’ 4-13 record is the worst in Belichick’s 29-year NFL coaching career. Sunday’s loss also marked the 178th of Belichick’s career, including the playoffs, tying him with Tom Landry for the most ever. It also ties the record of 165 regular-season losses held by Jeff Fisher and Dan Reeves.
New England now shifts to its most uncertain offseason of the past two-plus decades, with Belichick’s future with the team in the spotlight after a 24-year tenure during which the Patriots won six Super Bowl titles.
Belichick and Kraft are expected to meet as soon as Monday to discuss the coach's future with the franchise.
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'I'm under contract,' Belichick says at Monday press conference
Before any potential meeting with Kraft, Belichick addressed the media via conference call Monday morning. And he didn't sound like someone who was in his last day on the job.
"As I said before, obviously a very disappointing season all the way around -- players, coaches, staff, the organization. Everybody's not anywhere close to what our standards and expectations are, so obviously things need to be fixed. I'm proud of the way the players and the team competed, but it's not the results, obviously, from any of us, starting with me all the way down to everybody else who was involved with it. I know we all feel the same way."
"I'm under contract," Belichick added. "I'll do what I always do. Every day I come in and work as hard as I can to help the team in whatever way I can. That's what I'm going to continue to do."
As for what's next and when he expects to meet with Kraft, Belichick didn't have much to say.
"Today was kind of the wrap up day for us with the players," he said. "I have a meeting with them and then we'll go from there. As far as any decisions or direction for next year, it's way too early for that. The end of year process I don't think will be any different fundamentally from the standpoint of how it's done. The decisions, that's a whole 'nother conversation. How it's done -- I'll meet with Robert like I always do, meet with the staff, meet with the personnel department, recap the season with the big picture and some of the individual decisions looming one way or another. That's obviously a long, long way off from where we are right now. We'll start at the end of the day putting the pieces together in terms of setting things up to go through a good, detailed analysis and kind of start a reconstruction, if you will."
Asked directly when he is scheduled to meet with Kraft, Belichick said, "I'll leave all that out... Might be a series of meetings, I don't know. We'll deal with that internally."
When he was asked if he wants to stick around to fix the team's problems, the coach reiterated that he's going to do everything he can to help the team.
"That's what I've always done. Never been any different for my career. I learned that from my dad growing up. That's not going to change."
As for the possibility of staying on as coach but relinquishing power over personnel decisions, Belichick said he's for whatever the organization decides is best for the team.
When asked if he has met with Kraft during the season, the coach said that he has met with the owner, but refused to elaborate.
Belichick was also asked about his handling of Mac Jones and whether he thought the quarterback still has a future in the NFL, but mostly ducked the question.
"As I said, we'll go through our offseason evaluations," he said. "Right now it's less than 24 hours after the Jets game."
