Did Bill Belichick get screwed by Robert Kraft?
An ESPN.com report published Wednesday about Belichick’s failed pursuit of a new coaching job said the Patriots owner called Falcons owner Arthur Blank “to warn him not to trust Bill” after Belichick parted ways with New England.
One source told ESPN that Kraft “was a big part” of why the Falcons passed on the 72-year-old Belichick and hired Raheem Morris instead.
When Blank and Falcons brass ranked their top coaching candidates, none of them even had Belichick in their top three, per ESPN.
“He was essentially voted off the island,” a source close to the Falcons’ hiring process told the website.
Belichick was said to be “blindsided” by not being hired as the new Falcons coach after believing he was getting the job.
This came after Belichick insisted to Blank he was not looking to become a coach/general manager hybrid like he was for a majority of his 24-year run in Foxborough, according to the report.
Belichick first had a one-on-one chat with Blank aboard the Falcons owner’s $180 million superyacht in Antigua on Jan. 15, and Blank came away from the meeting “thinking this is my guy,” a source close to Belichick told ESPN.
Four days later, Belichick met with several members of the Falcons front office at Blank’s home near Atlanta.
Then Blank spoke to Kraft, Blank’s closest friend among NFL owners, according to ESPN.
The two spoke at least twice, and Kraft told the Falcons owner “you’ll never have a warm conversation with” Belichick, the report said.
“[Kraft] found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust,” a source close to Kraft told ESPN. “And also very, very, very arrogant.”
The same source told the outlet that Kraft and his son Jonathan, the Patriots president, felt “betrayed” by Belichick.
ESPN previously reported in January that tensions between Belichick and Kraft grew to the point that the coach waited so long to bench a struggling Mac Jones this past season as “a f–k you to Kraft.”
The Patriots finished the 2023 season 4-13, Belichick’s worst during his 24 seasons with New England, and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years since Tom Brady left.
“I don’t think they’d try to hurt Belichick,” the source close to Kraft said of Robert and Jonathan. “But I don’t think they’d try to help him either. They weren’t going to try to sink him. He was finished as an effective head coach. Just look at his last four years in New England. A disaster … If you’re Arthur Blank, why do you want the headaches?”
Patriots spokesperson Stacey James disputed ESPN’s reporting on Kraft’s communications with Blank.
“Robert steadfastly denies saying anything negative to Arthur Blank about Bill Belichick after Robert and Bill mutually agreed to part ways,” James told ESPN. “In fact, Robert advocated for Bill to get the job.”
One source close to Belichick suggested to ESPN that Kraft may be motivated to keep Belichick out of the league after seeing Brady win a ring with the Buccaneers.
“If Bill goes on to have success and Tom already had success, then who does [Kraft] have to blame?” the source said to ESPN.
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