New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick deflected multiple questions about his job status on Wednesday, consistently responding with, “I’m getting ready for Kansas City.”
Belichick’s 3-10 team is set to host the Chiefs on Sunday, a game that was moved from “Monday Night Football” due to the Patriots’ struggles this season.
Speculation about Belichick’s future has increased, partly because owner Robert Kraft has made his expectations clear.
Entering the fourth season since quarterback Tom Brady’s departure, which deeply affected Kraft, the 82-year-old owner said in March that “it’s very important to me that we make the playoffs.”
The Patriots were officially eliminated from postseason contention on Sunday when the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Indianapolis Colts. This marks the earliest the franchise has been knocked out since 2000, Belichick’s first season as head coach.
Additionally, the Patriots have secured their third losing season in the four years since Brady left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Their last playoff win was a 13-3 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on February 3, 2019.
Kraft hasn’t publicly addressed Belichick’s future since the season started but spoke generally on “College GameDay” on Saturday, which was live from Gillette Stadium before the Army-Navy game.
Asked about his success over 30 years as Patriots owner, Kraft said: “It’s all about people. Collecting good people. People of good character. People who are loyal. I’m very happy that most of our key people have been with us for a long time.
Bill Belichick at Patriots (Credits: NFL)
We have a head coach who has been with us 24 years. That’s the model we have in all our companies … We like to win, so we want to do everything we can to get our team back so we can be winning.”
The day before, Kraft discussed the impact of the losing season on him, telling “Patriots All-Access” that he finally slept well and “felt good” after the team broke a five-game losing streak with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 7.
On Monday, NBC Sports Boston reported, citing anonymous sources, that the Patriots and Belichick would part ways after the 2023 season—a decision reportedly made after the team’s 10-6 loss to the Colts in Frankfurt, Germany, on November 12.
This report led to multiple questions for Belichick on Wednesday morning, during his first media availability ahead of Sunday’s game.
Belichick was asked if he understood that Kraft wouldn’t ask him back, if he still wanted to coach beyond 2023, and if there had been any internal discussions about his future. Each time, he responded with, “I’m getting ready for Kansas City.”
Belichick’s 24-year tenure as head coach is the longest in the NFL, and is the fifth-longest tenure with one team as a head coach.
His six Super Bowl championships as a head coach place him alongside George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only NFL coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933.
Belichick has 332 total victories (regular season and playoffs), ranking him second all-time behind Don Shula (347).
In March, Kraft was asked if Belichick was guaranteed to be the Patriots’ coach until he broke Shula’s record and said: “Look, I’d like him to break Don Shula’s record, but I’m not looking for any of our players to get great stats. We’re about winning and doing whatever we can to win. That’s what our focus is now.”
