There was no way Bill Belichick was staying in New York.
Bill Belichick is a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach with the New England Patriots. To most people, that’s all they know the veteran play-caller as throughout their life. To some though, he did serve as the head coach of the New York Jets for a brief moment.
In his mind, brief wasn’t short enough.
On a radio interview with WEEI, Belichick stated that one of his biggest accomplishments throughout his illustrious coaching career was leaving the Jets to take over the calls in Foxborough in 2000.
“Well, not only one of the most defining, but you know, one of the great moments of my career,” Belichick said Tuesday. “That combined with Robert [Kraft] giving me the opportunity to come here, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. That wasn’t a good situation for me and I didn’t want to be part of it, so I wasn’t. The other half of that was Robert giving me the opportunity to come here and trading, he gave up quite a bit to get me to come here, and that was a big trade.
“I just wasn’t going to stay there in that situation.”
The Patriots gave their AFC East rival a first-round selection for Belichick’s services. In return, the Jets gave them a coach who produced talents such as Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Mike Vrabel and Vince Wilfork along with nine trips to the Super Bowl.
Not even Bill Belichick would want to coach the Jets
New York’s recent struggles have been one of many in life past the short-lived Belichick era. Since his departure over two decades ago, the Jets have finished with nine seasons above .500, making the postseason six times. The team has yet to return to January football since Rex Ryan’s second season in 2010.
To make matters worse, Adam Gase and the cursed franchise from the Big Apple will finish with a sub .500 record for the fifth consecutive season after nearly having a chance to defeat Belichick on Monday Night Football. Entering the fourth quarter, New York held a 10-point lead before Cam Newton and Nick Folk combined for 13 points, thus saving their season with a 30-27 victory.
There’s always been speculation on why Belichick decided to resign mere hours after accepting the Jets job. No matter the conclusion, it’s played in his favor and New England’s, while New York is still hoping to return to relevance.