Bill Belichick reportedly wants a quieter atmosphere at his next destination.
It might be why the ex-Patriots head coach has only interviewed with one team, and why interest in him appears to be somewhat tepid.
Belichick is believed to have little interest in coaching teams in a major media market, according to Pro Football Talk.
It stems from a desire to avoid aggressive reporters developing sources within his staff and organization, according to the report.
Belichick has so far only interviewed with the Falcons since he and the Patriots parted ways on Jan. 11, reportedly meeting with Atlanta twice.
Belichick was quickly tabbed as the favorite to land the Falcons’ job, but the team has since interviewed ex-Titans coach Mike Vrabel twice as well as Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris twice, among others, as the Belichick momentum has seemed to slow down.
The chain-of-command is also pivotal to Belichick, Pro Football Talk reported.
With the Falcons, Belichick would likely have to report to CEO Rick McKary, which Belichick might not be interested in doing.
Belichick led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC championships, 17 AFC East titles and 296 combined regular season and playoff wins.
But he’s struggled without Tom Brady, missing the playoffs three of the last four years and finishing last season with a 4-13 record with the Patriots.
But he’s still intent on coaching, and has 333 career combined (regular season and playoffs) coaching wins — 14 away from Don Shula’s record of 347.
“For me this is a day of gratitude and celebration,” Belichick said at his exit press conference with the Patriots. “We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here. And it’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations — the amount of success we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and the contributions of so many people.”
The Patriots promoted Jerod Mayo — who had served as the team’s linebackers coach and formerly played with the team — to replace Belichick as head coach.