Bill Belichick has apparently decided he won’t be the next head coach of the New York Giants.
And that’s OK, given the likelihood that the Giants were not expected to even consider him for the job vacated by the firing of Brian Daboll this past week.
Belichick, 73, issued a 135-word statement Friday night, saying he won’t pursue NFL vacancies in the upcoming hiring cycle and is staying at the University of North Carolina as its football coach.
Belichick has always spoken fondly of his cherished 12 seasons as an assistant with the Giants.
It’s long been a belief in NFL circles that, based on his respect for the Giants’ franchise and his long-standing relationship with the Mara family, if Belichick were ever to return to the NFL after departing the kingdom he and Tom Brady built together in New England, the prospects of a Big Blue reunion might be appealing.
The only catch: Belichick’s candidacy is certainly not as appealing as it once was. He has struggled to recapture his Patriots’ magic at the University of North Carolina as “Chapel Bill,” and in his first season, the Tar Heels are 4-5 overall, 2-3 in the ACC.
And there is zero sense that, even if Belichick were interested, the Giants would even entertain bringing “Little Bill” back to the Meadowlands.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families. The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach [Bill] Parcells’ staff for over a decade,” Belichick said in a statement posted on his Instagram account. “However, despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies. Since arriving in Chapel Hill, my commitment to the UNC Football program has not waivered [sic]. We have tremendous support from the university, our alumni, and the entire Carolina community. My focus remains solely on continuing to improve this team, develop our players, and build a program that makes Tar Heel fans proud. We’re on to Wake Forest.”
Belichick left New England with 333 career victories (including playoffs), ranking second all time behind Don Shula, who finished with 347. Belichick, George Halas and Curly Lambeau are the only NFL coaches with six championships since the league began postseason play in 1933.
Belichick’s coaching legacy, widely believed to be the greatest in NFL history, perhaps rivaled only by Vince Lombardi, will always be intertwined with the Giants and Jets.
It’s forever been a love-hate relationship for Belichick, too: his deep appreciation for Big Blue has teased a return to the Meadowlands for a long time, while his disdain for Gang Green is ultimately what landed him in New England in the first place.
No one will ever forget his resignation after one day as Bill Parcells’ successor with the Jets, delivered on a napkin with the scribbled message, “I resign as HC of the NYJ.”
You can’t tell his story as a coaching icon without the two NFL teams from the Big Apple.
In the NFL Films’ documentary “A Football Life” focused on him, Belichick was shown taking a walk down memory lane as he prepared to coach against the Jets in one of the final games played at the old Giants Stadium.
The iconic coach got emotional as he reminisced while walking through the old locker room, including Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor’s locker, and the team’s meeting rooms.
“This is a great organization,” Belichick said of the Giants in the documentary. “It’s hard not to get choked up about it… I loved it here.”
We did not need a Friday night statement from Belichick to the Giants – and the NFL – to realize he won’t be coming home again.
Eventually, the Giants would have told him that themselves.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Bill Belichick won’t be next Giants coach, but they never even asked
