Belichick Hiring Rumor Season is Officially Underway. First Team on the Clock: Jacksonville

Eric Canha. Shutterstock Images.

This photo is from joint practices in 2017. But you might consider getting used to the sight of Bill Belichick overseeing Jacksonville Jaguars drills. 

First, it's not hard to imagine that Doug Pederson's seat is getting hotter than an Arizona port-o-potty right now:

Second, it was inevitable that the most successful coach since the invention of the whistle was going to be linked to every franchise with a potential opening. The availability of a giant with his stature is situation that comes up maybe once in a generation. If that. 

I suppose you could point to Don Shula going from the Colts to Dolphins in 1970. But that was before he became Don Shula. At that point, he was known for one championship, followed by the biggest choke job in sports history, losing to the Jets in Super Bowl III. 

I think a better comp would be Vince Lombardi in 1969. He had retired to the Packers front office by then. But quickly grew sick of sitting behind a desk and having to watch his language around the secretaries, missed the competitive parts of the job, and wanted to get back to the sidelines. Fun fact I wrote about in my first book (cha-CHING!), Lombardi had a deal in place to coach the Patriots. Until he ran the idea by his lawyer. Who just happened to be named Edward Bennett Williams. And the Washington R-Words also happened to have an owner by the name of Edward Bennett Williams. So he poached him. Lombardi broke the news to Patriots owner Billy Sullivan by saying if he goes to DC, he can be golf with President Nixon. The coach Sullivan hired instead literally had a nervous breakdown. But Lombardi was dead within a year. So, that's a win for the Pats? I guess? Things didn't end well for Nixon either, as I recall.

Anyway, you can't expect a coach to be facing the kind of pressure Pederson is under, plus the looming figure of the most desirable coaching free agent of all time casting a shadow across the entire league, without those dots getting connected. Even just three weeks into the season:

Albert Breer: [Jacksonville] feels to me like a franchise that may be in for another reset. …" 

Dan Patrick: "So, Coach [Pederson] is in trouble? Flirting with trouble?"

AB: "Yeah, maybe. That's just a sneaky one with Belichick for me. Tony Khan has a really strong relationship with Belichick. Shahid's son Tony. To the point that, when they hired Doug Marrone full-time and removed the interim tag in 2017, that was largely on the advice of Belichick to do it. So Bill's had the ear of ownership in that place for awhile now. And I just wonder if that's not rattling around in the heads of ownership there, especially when you're renovating your stadium. You've got sponsorships to sell, you've got suites to sell, all of that stuff. Do you need some more credibility? There's some things that line up there where I wouldn't totally rule that out as a viable possibility for Belichick in 2025."

Speaking as someone who has a personal, professional, emotional and spiritual interest in Belichick's well-being, I could certainly think of worse landing places for him. As long as he's not expected to ditch his lucrative and highly entertaining broadcast career and jump right in to rescue Pederson's sinking ship. I have no desire to see The Year of Belichick end before he's seen it through. And I'm sure his broadcast partners and his girlfriend feel the same way. There are too many games to analyze. Too many walks to too many ice cream stands still to be taken:

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… to cut things short. 

And getting back to the big picture of his next career move, you can see where Jacksonville would work. Sure, Taylor Lawrence is struggling at the moment. But the raw talent is there. He's young. He's signed for another four years after this one. Between Travis Etienne, Evan Engram, Brian Thomas and the interior line, there is at least the basis of a respectable NFL offense to be built around him. The defense was utterly helpless against Buffalo Monday night, but they were 18th in the league last year. And Belichick has performed more miracles with less than your typical Catholic saint. 

More over, Belichick would have the respect of ownership, which he enjoyed for 24 years in New England. Unlike Atlanta, where Arthur Blank listened to his front office people who would've said anything to protect their phony baloney jobs, they'll respect him enough to stay out of his way and let him use the motherlode of draft capital he'd no doubt have to work with to turn this 2022 Wild Card game winner into a contender in no time. 

And we all have a pretty educated guess as to what his first order of business in Jacksonville would be:

This is just the first of what promises to be many - a dozen, perhaps? - job openings he'll be connected to by the NFL rumor intelligentsia. And in this first time out, I approve this job for him. Khan family, start putting your offer together.