After two decades of supremacy, the New England Patriots have struggled since the departure of their star QB, Tom Brady. Aside from a solitary playoff appearance, they have endured three losing seasons—an anomaly compared to their previous two decades of dominance. To add salt to the wounds, Belichick’s tenure ended unceremoniously when Kraft parted ways with him after a dismal 4-13 season, a scenario that even Charles Barkley couldn’t have envisioned when he gave his “guarantee.”
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Barkley made another appearance on Good Morning Football’s Insider’s Podcast, only to throw his words back at himself. During his earlier appearance, almost a year ago, Chuck had said, “New England Patriots are going to make the playoffs. Guaranteed.” He clearly missed by a mile.
Barkley assumed the Pats would improve and his friend Bill Belichick would steady the ship but they regressed, leaving Chuck to eat his words. He feels the team buckled under the pressure that a young QB like Jones couldn’t handle:
“I thought they were going to be better. But you know, they regressed. I think the stress of Tom leaving and the young QB, so it’s the stress just, they didn’t get it done.”
Chuck, like many in the NFL world, was surprised that no franchises hired Belichick to be their HC or GM. The franchises with vacancies gravitated toward younger coaches, who have the capacity and know-how to coach the upcoming talent.
That being said, it’s hard to see Bill Belichick leave a flourishing life to get back on the sidelines and Chuck feels we have seen the last of the former Patriots HC.
Is Coach Belichick Done With Football?
Barkley feels his good friend Bill is going to take it easy this year after surprisingly not getting hired. Over the past few months, Barkley believes that Bill has realized that life has so much more to offer than just calling plays and lifting Super Bowls:
“Coach Belichick is gonna chill out this year. I was surprised he didn’t get another opportunity. He is the greatest coach ever. It’s gonna be curious if he comes back and coaches again. That to me is going to be a really interesting question. Now, he realized that there is more to life than football.”
It took Bill 50 years to finally make time for himself to live his life and reap the rewards of his hard work. Now, he’s enjoying domestic bliss with his young girlfriend, remaining unfazed by unwanted media attention. He has taken well-needed vacations and even attended a Taylor Swift concert.
He will soon start a new role as a media analyst at CW network’s weekly show, “Inside the NFL” beginning on August 30th. Additionally, he will make appearances on ESPN’s Manningcast during Monday Night Football.
Known for his serious demeanor and monotonous press conferences, Bill has blossomed since leaving coaching. Besides being a football genius, he has also shown glimpses of his humor, which will come in handy in his new gigs.
