Bill Belichick didn’t have the same level of intensity and attention to detail in the tail end of his 24 seasons as head coach of the Patriots, according to NBC Sports Boston’s Tom E. Curran.
During his weekly appearance on the “Jones and Keefe” show Tuesday on WEEI 93.7 FM, Curran explained that Belichick had a nonchalant attitude and was “kind of resting on his laurels” and depending on his legendary reputation.
“I don’t think it had the same intensity of attention that Bill Belichick from 2000 through 2019 had, no,” Curran said asked by co-host Adam Jones if Belichick was distracted in the 2023 season due to his personal life, which includes his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson.
“So the level of attention to detail probably was not the same. So distracted to you and me? I mean, I’m a distracted guy, I don’t know if it’s that level. But no, his level of intensity was not the same.
“I think that that was borne out in the drafting, the free agent signings, the coaching and succession plans, the easy outs in terms of hiring — whether it be offensive coordinator or scouting or whatever. I think Bill very much got to a point where, when he articulated that, ‘Why should fans have an expectation of success this year?’ posed to him by [ESPN NFL reporter] Mike Reiss at the 2023 owners meetings. And Bill said, ‘The last 25 years.’ There was very much a kind of resting on his laurels and his reputation and, ‘What’s the worst that could happen here? I’m Bill Belichick.’”
That would be a 4-13 season that ended with the franchise quickly splitting ways with the head coach.
Curran, a Patriots insider since the late 1990s, was referring to when Reiss asked Belichick at the 2023 NFL Owners meetings if he had a message to Patriots fans heading into that season.
“Long way to go,” Belichick said. “It’s March. We play in September. We’ve got a long way to go, a lot of work to do.”
When asked by Reiss why should fans be optimistic, Belichick replied, “The last 25 years.”
Belichick, 73, and the Patriots won six Super Bowls in 24 seasons together before they parted ways.
Jones posed the question about Belichick being distracted that year due to Pablo Torre’s recent report that Belichick was sneaking around with Hudson at the time — including the now infamous shirtless Ring surveillance camera video of Belichick leaving an Airbnb that was booked by Hudson.
“The latest — and I’m curious your thoughts on this — really does characterize Bill as distracted at the tail end of his tenure in New England,” Jones said. “Red pants at training camp. Hotel rooms leading up to games. Never mind [appearing] on Ring cam videos, etc, etc. Do you think Bill was distracted in 2023?”
Curran went on to agree with WEEI’s Rich Keefe, who said “I think it’s going to be one-and-done at North Carolina” for Belichick — while also mentioning the coach’s June 1 buyout date in his five-year deal with UNC.
“I know some are speculating whether he even makes it to the season,” Keefe said. “There’s like a buyout coming up on June 1, where there’s a potential there. I think he coaches this season, but I think it’s one-and-done.”
“I would tend to agree with you,” Curran said. “But it would be a percentage-type thing with the likelihood. I mean, are they going to be good? I just don’t think they’re going to — and what do I know about ACC friggin’ football — but I just don’t think that they’re going to be, you know, landmark [improved], because they’re totally different kinds of players that you’re dealing with.
“I mean, kids who [were] just getting off a bus last year, some of them, to go to school. They’re not adults. So how is that going to go? I would imagine it probably is more likely one-and-done than a five year tenure.”
Belichick signed a five-year deal — with a $10 million per year in base salary that is only guaranteed for the first three years — to become the UNC head football coach in December.
The contract also has a $10 million buyout that drops to $1 million in June.
Belichick will be under a microscope in his first year coaching at the college level, especially after the media fallout from his disastrous “CBS Sunday Mornings” interview — which aired on April 27 and showed Hudson interrupting a question about how the couple met.
“I didn’t come here to leave,” the coach said during his introductory press conference at Chapel Hill on Dec. 12, 2024, which Hudson attended.
Torre’s investigation claims Hudson, a former NCAA champion cheerleader at Bridgewater State University, is trying to control Belichick’s career and further her own.