After decades of testy relationships with the media during his tenure as New England Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick is now joining the very media that he once butted heads with so often. For one media member, the new job makes Belichick a bit of a hypocrite.
In a recent opinion piece for Athlon Sports, Andrew Perloff made the case that Belichick could use his platform on The CW’s Inside the NFL for the purpose of securing a new job for himself in the NFL in 2025.
Perloff admonished Belichick for his previous media bashing, pointing out that he has now become the very entity that he has criticized in the past.
My latest for @AthlonSports: Bill Belichick is a hypocrite and I don’t want to see him on television…https://t.co/V0xqpFGjoq
— Andrew Perloff (@andrewperloff) July 16, 2024
“When Belichick famously responded to each question in a 2014 press conferences with “We’re on to Cincinnati,” his answer became a rallying cry for Pats fans. It was also obnoxious and unnecessary. He didn’t need to make reporters look silly to motivate his guys. That team was full of pros, including Brady, who knew the mission. They didn’t need Belichick stonewalling the press to get the point. Every person in that room was trying to do their job. Belichick of all people should have understood that,” Perloff wrote.
“No one doubts Belichick’s acumen. He is the greatest living football coach. The teams that passed on him in the latest hiring cycle made a terrible choice. Belichick is also the most calculating coach of all time — in any sport. He controlled every detail in New England and will do the same as a broadcaster.
“Everything Belichick says on camera will have an angle. He’ll use the platform to secure future employment on the sidelines. If he rips a coach, how do we know he’s not angling for that coach’s job? If he praises a quarterback, is that because he wants to join him next season? Belichick was critical of college players during the draft on ESPN, but that’s because there were no stakes. He’ll be more careful when it comes to the NFL.”
Perloff suggested that Belichick answer some longstanding questions about his past as a coach to prove that he isn’t going to use his new platform to simply manipulate everyone into giving him a new NFL coaching job.
It’s an interesting sentiment, but it’s not going to happen.
Related: Bill Belichick Lands New Job For The Upcoming NFL Season