Bill Belichick vs. Josh Harris: Commanders 'Power Struggle' Already?!
To use a yuletide metaphor, when it comes to Bill Belichick leaving the New England Patriots in order to take over the Washington Commanders, we are putting the sleigh in front of the reindeer.
Yes, amid this dismal 4-10 season, Commanders coach Ron Rivera appears to be heading for the exits, with new ownership under Josh Harris wanting to both a) hire a superior coach and b) make its own mark.
Enter the six-time Super Bowl champion Belichick?
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Many have made the connection, and its an understandable one. But we're careful to frame our thoughts on the possible connection as "educated guesses," for two reasons.
One, Harris is new enough on the scene to review his track record on such matters. We bet not even Harris himself has etched into stone a specific post-Rivera path.
Two, the only sportswriter types who really have any insight into the private thoughts of Belichick are media people who are performing water-carrying duties here. That's a central reason why the national media keeps connecting Belichick to the Dallas Cowboys despite lacking even a shred of evidence supporting their "stories."
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated colleague Albert Breer is writing of an obstacle that would get in the way of Belichick coming to D.C.: The issue of autonomy.
"Bill Belichick's name has popped up a lot in connection to the Commanders' job," Breer writes. "And there's one thing at play there that might be a hurdle to that happening: My sense is that new owner Josh Harris won't hand the keys to the entire operation over to a single person. So if Belichick wants the power he has in New England (total power, which is tough for a coach to get these days), he might have to look elsewhere."
Sure. But ... Breer has also been among the many making the Belichick-to-Dallas connection. It was just a month ago that Breer claimed that Dallas joins Washington as the teams “most connected” to having a future with Belichick.
But now Washington doesn't have a connection because of a predicted power struggle?
Oh, and how do those who see a Dallas/Belichick connection not realize that if the coach wants ultimate power, Jerry Jones' organization is the single most impossible place for him to get it?
Last month, Breer told Dan Patrick that Belichick to the Commanders would "make sense." ... basing the idea in part on the fact that Harris was once a college chum of Patriots team president Jonathan Kraft.
That is an attempt at assembling puzzle pieces, and it is a worthy effort. But how much "power" Harris will want and how much "power" Harris will grant is an unknown. And until he himself reveals that - likely following Rivera's dismissal - that puzzle will exist as mostly just a gaping hole.
