It appears there hasn’t been any thawing in the relationship between Bill Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
In a highly unusual move, Belichick has responded to comments Kraft made last month in which the owner said he took a “big risk” by giving up a first-round pick to steal Belichick away from the Jets in 2000.
“As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job,” Belichick told ESPN. “I already had an opportunity to be the Head Coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable.”
There was a bidding war for the Jets at the time between eventual winner Woody Johnson and Charles Dolan in the wake of former owner Leon Hess’ death.
Belichick noted that concerns also engulfed the Patriots’ opening.
“I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots’ coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles,” Belichick told ESPN. “I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success.”
During an appearance last month on ex-Patriots stars Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman’s “Dudes on Dudes” podcast at Fanatics Fest, Kraft said his decision to hire Belichick, whom he gave roster control to, was the best decision he’s made as the team’s owner, noting he got questioned for giving up a first-round pick for a coach who had a 36-44 record over five seasons leading the Browns.
“I don’t know if there are any Jets fans here. I think getting Bill Belichick to come to the Patriots in [2000] was a big risk, and I got hammered in the Boston area, but he was with us for 24 years,” Kraft told the crowd at Javits Center. “And we did OK.”
After going 5-11 in his first season as the Patriots’ head coach, Belichick led them to a Super Bowl title the following season as Tom Brady emerged as a franchise QB after Drew Bledsoe was sidelined by an early-season crushing hit from the Jets’ Mo Lewis.
Belichick, Kraft and Brady ultimately won six Super Bowls in New England, with Brady earning another ring with the Buccaneers.
The 73-year-old Belichick, now he head coach at UNC after a stunning move to the college ranks, told ESPN he “appreciated Robert giving me the opportunity” to shake up the Patriots’ roster, but said “you’ll have to ask Robert” why he described Belichick’s hiring as a “big risk.”
Belichick makes no mention of Kraft in his book “The Art of Winning: Lessons from My Life in Football,” which was released in May.
He was asked about Kraft’s conspicuous absence in the book during his disastrous “CBS Sunday Morning” interview in April.
“[The book is] about my life lessons in football and it’s really more about the ones I experienced directly,” Belichick said during the interview.
While Belichick’s departure from the Patriots following a 4-13 season in 2023 was portrayed as “mutual,” Kraft has since described the coach’s exit as a firing.
Asked about that phrasing during the CBS interview, Belichick said, “It was a mutual decision.”
It was after that interview that Belichick’s relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson became further scrutinized, as Hudson shut down a question about how they met as she loomed off to the side.
“We’re not talking about this,” Hudson interjected.