The Atlanta Falcons are the front-runners to land Bill Belichick after already conducting two interviews with the legendary head coach.
But it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Falcons hire Belichick with Atlanta conducting a “wide open” search and continuing to interview other candidates for its vacant head coach position.
So what’s the hold up preventing Belichick from taking the helm with the Falcons? It seems Belichick might not get along with Rich McKay, who became the Falcons CEO last January.
“That setup, a year later, might need more adjusting, because it’s hard to see Belichick being comfortable with any sort of arrangement where he’s reporting to McKay,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote. “Mostly because, well, those two haven’t been on the same page over the years, with the former Patriot coach’s (often open) disdain for the NFL’s competition committee that McKay has long chaired.”
Belichick once said the competition committee has “all the answers” and called out the committee in 2017 as they looked to tinker with rules to take away the impact of kickoffs.
Belichick isn’t used to answering to anyone when it comes to football decisions. He said prior to leaving the Patriots he would be open to relinquishing power over personnel control, but it’s unknown if he still will feel that way at his next destination.
Breer believes how the Belichick-McKay dynamic is handled by Falcons owner Arthur Blank could determine if Belichick eventually winds up with Atlanta. And if Blank can’t find some type of solution to this problem, the Falcons could lose out on Belichick, which for them would be almost as bad as blowing a 28-3 lead.
