Bill Belichick to Commanders Rumors: True or False?
LANDOVER, Md. -- The Washington Commanders are getting ready to embark on arguably the most important offseason in two decades.
With new owners, the Commanders are expected to bring in a new coach and general manager.
Engrained in that expectation is the likelihood that Washington will pursue a duo it believes will usher in decades of winning for the franchise, and all but excludes the idea that current New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will be managing partner Josh Harris' primary target.
Patriots Head Coach, Bill Belichick is shown at MetLife Stadium, Sunday, November 26, 2023.
© Kevin R. Wexler / USA TODAY NETWORK
"Per a league source, Harris is enamored with the idea of Belichick coaching the Commanders," NBC's Pro Football Talk reported Sunday. "The question is whether Harris would give Belichick full control over personnel — and whether Belichick would regard the absence of final say over the roster and the draft as (a) dealbreaker."
The expectation around these parts is that Harris will look for a traditional general manager and head coach tandem that will operate with one focused on personnel and roster management while the other focuses on - well - football.
This is something coach Ron Rivera - who is expected to be relieved of his duties on Monday - hasn't been able to do during his four seasons leading the Commanders.
We haven't heard or observed anything that would indicate Harris is interested in bringing in yet another coach who will also act as his own general manager after moving on from Rivera and his staff.
And neither have any of the other prominent beat reporters covering Washington football.
"What's been fascinating about the Belichick talk is how all the reporting about the Commanders' interest in him has come from outside of town," The Athletic's Ben Standig said in response to the report. "Wanna meet with arguably the best coach ever? Cool. Just not seeing the fit, and I'm not sensing the OMG interest here."
Scott Abraham from the local Washington D.C. ABC affiliate was a little more blunt in his response tweeting, "For the 99th time, I have been told by people in the Harris camp that this is FALSE."
And ESPN's John Keim was blunt, and straight to the point.
"He’s not coming," Keim replied when asked about the possibility Belichick lands in D.C. "The end."
On top of the mismatch between Belichick's past operations and what Harris is expected to install there's the matter of the Patriots still owning the coach's contract.
Expecting an owner to pursue an organizational structure completely opposite of his history as a franchise runner, and trade valuable capital in the process, just doesn't fit.
As Abraham further stated in his response this isn't the end, unfortunately, and these rumors along with many others will continue to circulate until the positions are filled - by two different people.
Hopefully sooner rather than later so we can proceed to the usual speculation about whether or not a soon-to-be rookie will or won't be the reason Washington finally turns it around in 2024.
