What Bill Belichick’s departure means for the Patriots

The 71-year-old will not be back as New England’s head coach in 2024.

After weeks of speculation, it is now official: Bill Belichick will not be back as the New England Patriots’ head coach in 2024. As reported on Thursday, the two sides will go separate ways in the future.

This is a franchise-altering event, and we will naturally have wall-to-wall coverage of it. For now, however, let’s just share some quick-hit thoughts on the bigger-picture implications of the move.

The end of an era: Bill Belichick ran the Patriots’ football operations for the last 24 years, and he did so with unprecedented success. Under his leadership, the club won six Super Bowls, nine conference championships and 17 division titles, and established itself as the first and so far only dynasty of the NFL’s salary cap era.

While the last two years in particular did not live up to that same standard, Belichick’s status as a legend of the sport and the Patriots franchise was never in question. With him gone, so is an era sports fans all over New England will look back at with fond memories for generations to come.

Belichick’s vision for the franchise was not shared by ownership: The biggest question for the Patriots entering the offseason was whether or not Belichick could convince Robert and Jonathan Kraft that he was still the right guy for the job — that his vision for the future of the franchise was still satisfactory to the ownership. We have our answer now.

What an alternative vision will look like remains to be seen, but it is clear that Belichick’s plan for the team has run its course in the eyes of the Krafts. As a consequence, the club will now embark in a new direction. Whether that will result in a improvement after missing the playoffs in three of the last four years remains to be seen, but it seems like the team’s ownership is willing to take that gamble and find out.

The band-aid is off: With Belichick turning 72 in April, it is clear that the Patriots needed to think about a future after him. The team’s recent lack of success culminating in a 4-13 season sped the transition plan up: the time to rip off the band-aid that was the legendary head coach had come, and while there were arguments against the move ownership apparently felt that now was the time to make it.

The Patriots need more than a head coach now: As noted above, Belichick led the Patriots’ football operations for more than two decades. Not only was he serving as head coach, he also was the de facto general manager in that no personnel decision happened without his blessing.

Now, those two roles need to be filled. There are internal candidates for both spots, but the Patriots looking outside their own building would also not come as a surprise — drastic times call for drastic measures.

All eyes are on Jerod Mayo and Mike Vrabel…: It remains to be seen who will succeed Belichick as Patriots head coach, but two names to keep an eye on are current linebackers coach and de facto co-defensive coordinator Jerod Mayo as well as recently-fired Tennessee Titans head coach, and Patriots Hall of Famer, Mike Vrabel.

The team will need to go through a complete hiring process, though. For one, it will likely have to fill out other roles on the coaching staff and within the personnel department. Additionally, it also needs to satisfy the NFL’s so-called Rooney Rule about interviewing external minority candidates.

…as well as the rest of the current coaching staff: With the elder Belichick not returning in 2024, it seems likely that his two sons also will leave the organization. Their departures would be a blow to a defense that has been among the best in the NFL over the last three years, and would leave New England without its other quasi-co-defensive coordinator (Steve) and its safeties coach (Brian).

They might not be the only ones to move on, though. Several jobs appear to be in limbo now all over the Patriots’ football operations.