Bill Belichick Flexes His Undefeated Stint With the Jets Amidst Aaron Rodgers’ Misery

With the New York Jets now sitting at 3-8, the same record as the rebuilding New England Patriots, it seems like it’s time to pile onto Aaron Rodgers and company. Even Bill Belichick is getting in on the fun.

The prevailing thought going into this year was that the Jets had an excellent defense and solid offensive weapons — all they needed was Aaron Rodgers. Unfortunately, the season has been a mess. They had a better record with Zach Wilson last year (4-7) through 11 games than they do with Rodgers in 2024.

Many believed the Jets would even compete for the AFC East division title or at least be an easy pick for the playoffs. Both of those are pipe dreams now. The hype that was surrounding the Jets before the season, paired with the fact that Rodgers is arguably the most polarizing personality in sports right now. It means there are a lot of football fans pointing at Rodgers or Woody Johnson or whichever Jets fan will listen, saying, “I told you so.”

Belichick got in on the act during his latest weekly appearance on ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show on Monday. When McAfee asked Belichick about the Jets’ latest loss, a 28-27 heartbreaker to the Indianapolis Colts, Belichick poked a little fun at the franchise he dominated so much while he was in New England:

“Yeah, [I] was the head coach of the Jets twice, undefeated, unscored on!”

Belichick spent three peculiar years on the New York Jets staff from 1997-1999, though he never actually coached a regular season game for them as head coach, hence the numbers he stated are technically correct. No one ever beat or scored on his Jets teams because they never played a game under him.

After the crew laughed off Belichick’s quip, McAfee suggested Belichick should be enshrined in the Jets’ Hall of Fame with numbers like that, sarcastically calling them “Hall of Fame” numbers. Belichick responded that he was simply stating facts.

Bill Belichick had a strange 3-year tenure with the Jets

So, how did Bill Belichick rise to the rank of head coach of the New York Jets twice without actually coaching a game? Belichick and his mentor, NFL icon Bill Parcells, worked for the Pats in 1996. Belichick as the assistant head coach, and Parcells, aka the “Big Tuna”, as the head coach.

In 1997, the Jets wanted Parcells as their head coach, but they had to work out a deal with the Patriots to get him. In the meantime, they hired Belichick as their interim head coach. Six days later, when the Jets and Pats agreed on the Parcells package, he became the new head coach, and Belichick was relegated to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

Belichick held those roles for three seasons, but after the 1999 campaign, the notoriously hot-tempered Parcells had enough of New York, a trend that has continued among Jets head coaches over the last quarter century. He had also previously arranged for Belichick to succeed him as head coach.

However, in another turn of events in a saga that had plenty, Belichick spurned the Jets too. A day after his hiring was announced in the media, at a presser to introduce him as head coach, Belichick instead announced his resignation. Shortly after, Belichick took the Patriots head coaching job.

The Jets argued that he was still under contract with them, and NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue agreed and forced New England to send their 2000 first-round pick to the Jets as restitution. That’s a pretty small price to pay for the greatest head coach of all time.