Falcons And Belichick Deal Dead: A 'Nasty Underbelly' of What Went Wrong?
History will make the determination: Has Bill Belichick lost his fastball? Or have the Atlanta Falcons lost their minds?
On Thursday the Falcons closed the deal to hire Raheem Morris, the highly-regarded Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator, as their head coach. And there is nothing "wrong'' with that ...
Except that how can Raheem Morris be "better'' than the legendary New England Patriots head coach?
In the coming hours we are sure to learn more about the inner-workings not only of the Morris hire - the Falcons will be excited to share those glorious details. But there is a nasty underbelly in here somewhere, too.
Did Belichick want too much power - all the power - causing owner Arthur Blank to listen to team higher-ups (CEO Rich McKay) who were bending his ear about wanting to do their jobs (or, if you are a cynic) protect their desks?
The world is about to discover that is true. Belichick surely assumed he could throw his weight around here.
Did Belichick media sycophants create a "hot market'' for him that never really existed? He has so far only interviewed with the Falcons and did so twice. Where are all the other "bidders''? Where are the teams that the national media promised where "enamored of him''? Where are all the "mystery teams'' who were going to hire him, like the Dallas Cowboys - who never even called him?
The world is about to discover that it is true that the Falcons reevaluated the landscape - next thing you know they interviewed a whopping 14 guys - and saw a "not-hot'' candidate in ol' Bill.
What if the fact that Belichick is 71 and has spent the last half-decade as the unilateral decision-maker in charge of a crappy Patriots program - he was arguably exposed without Tom Brady, missing the playoffs three of the last four years and finishing last season with a 4-13 record - was finally broached by Blank and his crew?
And that this idea of Belichick "automatically changing the culture'' in Atlanta sounded great ... but left the Falcons wondering about the last four years of "culture'' in losing Foxboro?
The world is about to discover that that "wondering'' is true.
Belichick was quickly tabbed as the "favorite'' to land the Falcons job, but ... by whom? By the Falcons? Or by Belichick cronies?
One of the goofiest stories came from ProFootballTalk, which first "reported'' that Belichick would likely land in Dallas, and then when that didn't even come close to materializing, "reported'' that he didn't want to deal with a "big-media market'' city and preferred the lower-light Falcons.
Because that sounds ridiculous, we assume it's false. Belichick led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC championships, 17 AFC East titles, and 296 combined regular season and playoff wins and now suddenly he's scared of their being too many reporters at a press conference?
At the same time, we wonder what the Falcons thought of such talk. "Bill liked us because we 'underachieve''? "Bill liked us because we're small-market''?
Those views don't play well in a job interview.
Belichick's water-carriers have insisted he's intent on coaching. He has 333 career combined (regular season and playoffs) coaching wins - 14 away from Don Shula’s record of 347. That's important and he's earned the right to want it.
Now, by the way, those same water-carriers - suddenly realizing he might get zero wins in 2024 - are telling us how "awesome'' he'll be working in a TV network studio next year. (Prediction, having watched him hundreds of times mumble and grumble his way through media visits: No, he will not be "awesome.'')
Is Raheem Morris a "better'' coach than Bill Belichick?History will let us know, though right now that seems a stretch.
Is Is Raheem Morris a "better'' coach than Bill Belichick for this time and place and town and team?
