Matthew Judon is eager to play for new head coach Matthew Judon, but he doesn’t think Bill Belichick should stay out of a job.
During Wednesday’s appearance on Good Morning Football, the star pass rusher encouraged other franchises to scoop up the legendary head coach.
“I would say, ‘Hire that guy,'” Judon said, via MassLive’s Nick O’Malley. “He’s going to be great for the organization. He’s going to be great for the team.”
However, Judon acknowledged that Belichick isn’t quite a charismatic people-pleaser.
“It might not be too many smiles you get out the dude,” he continued. “It might not be too many laughs and jokes you might get out of him with the media and stuff. The press, you might have some pushback on that. But I think as a hire, as a head coach. It’s hard to get better as a head coach.”
Judon called Belichick “one of the best to ever do it” before explaining why he believes a coaching change will benefit the Patriots.
“It was amazing to learn from him. But I think, just with him leaving, I think it’s just new energy and new life in the building,” Judon explained. “Sometimes it’s just time, and I think it was just kind of one of those times.”
He predicted the players will “run through a wall” for Jerod Mayo. In Judon’s eyes, replacing Belichick with a former assistant will soften the transition period.
“He always had our back throughout everything that we go through,” Judon said of Mayo. “We always would kind of go to talk to him, and he would understand.”
The offseason coaching cycle stopped spinning without Belichick landing a job. Barring an unexpected development, the six-time Super Bowl champion will begin an NFL season away from the sidelines for the first time since 1974.