Expert believes Bill Belichick will be interested in Bills head coaching job

Colin Cowherd believes that the Buffalo Bills are one of three teams that Bill Belichick has an eye on as he prepares his return to coaching.

Kyle Silagyi | Jul 19, 2024

Dec 23, 2018; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick shakes hands with Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott after New England's 24-12 win at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports / Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

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Few sports figures are as universally hated in Western New York as Bill Belichick.

The legendary coach is objectively one of the greatest sideline bosses in the history of the NFL. You name it, he’s done it. Wins? He’s got 302 as a head coach, only 26 away from tying Don Shula as the winningest coach in NFL history. Super Bowls? He’s got eight of them, six as the head of a staff. NFL Coach of the Year Awards? Yeah, he’s got three of those, too.

Few in NFL history have accomplished more than Belichick. Unfortunately for the Buffalo faithful, a lot of Belichick’s success has come against their beloved Bills. The decorated coach constructed a 37-12 record against Buffalo throughout his 24 seasons in charge of the New England Patriots, including a 35-5 from 2000–2020. Bills fans had to watch as Belichick constructed a dynasty in New England, winning 17 AFC East titles and six Super Bowls as Buffalo experienced its darkest period of franchise history, not qualifying for the postseason in 17 consecutive campaigns.

Belichick, in several ways, is the physical embodiment of the Bills’ prolonged stretch of misery, an oppressive Palpatine-like figure who did not have a necessarily direct hand in Buffalo’s organizational incompetence, but certainly didn’t have any issue benefiting from their mishaps.

And if one prominent sports media personality is to be believed, the legendary figure may be interested in taking the reins of the team he long used as a doormat.

Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd stated during a recent episode of The Herd with Colin Cowherd that Belichick has reportedly circled three franchises as teams of interest as he prepares for his ultimate return to coaching, saying the following: "The Beli-check list in my opinion, from what I've heard, are three teams: Philadelphia, Dallas, and Buffalo.”

Feb 4, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick speaks flanked by the Vince Lombardi trophy during Super Bowl LIII winning team press conference at Georgia World Congress Center. The Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 to win an NFL record-tying sixth championship Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports / Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Belichick, who mutually agreed to part with the Patriots after a 4-13 2023 campaign, would like to stay in the eastern portion of the United States, per Cowherd, this while simultaneously joining a franchise with a stable quarterback situation. The sideline boss knows first-hand how prolific Buffalo signal-caller Josh Allen is; the quarterback is 7-2 against the Patriots this decade, including a 2021 Wild-Card round walloping of New England in which Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and five touchdowns.

Belichick, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, intends to coach in the 2025 NFL season, which, on paper, would make the Bills a long shot; head coach Sean McDermott has led Buffalo to the postseason in six of his seven seasons in charge, and he signed an extension that ties him to the Bills through 2027 last summer. That said, Cowherd believes that McDermott could quietly be on a warm seat given his, thus far, inability to ‘get over the hump,’ something that could result in his dismissal should the team see another early postseason exit.

"Buffalo is really intriguing to me, not because Sean McDermott is not a good coach . . . but you get to a point with McDermott [where the team needs a change]," Cowherd said, per the Fox Sports website. “The receiving corps seems light. The offense has been productive with Josh Allen, but we worry about that side progressing.

"I think Sean McDermott, without being on the hot seat, there is a sense that you can't just win the division again. You've got to have higher standards. I know Buffalo's a small market, if they win 10 games and go 10-7, they win a playoff game, everybody goes, ‘Maybe next year.'" But I feel like there's an underlying heat on Sean McDermott. I don't care what his contract status is. All those contracts are rounding errors for billionaire owners at this point."

Cowherd also noted that Belichick would also likely relish being back in the AFC East and having the opportunity to face the Patriots (at least) twice per season.

Belichick is, by every metric, one of the greatest head coaches in the history of the sport; that said, it would feel quite strange watching him roam the sideline in Orchard Park. He’s associated with some of the darkest periods in the Bills’ history, and it’d likely be difficult for some members of the Buffalo faithful to accept him as the new face of the franchise.

That said, winning cures everything. If Belichick were to take the reins of the club and lead Allen to glory just as he did with Tom Brady on six separate occasions, all previous animosity would be forgotten. It’s an interesting possibility, but one that may never manifest as anything more than a fun bar conversation; McDermott can silence the conversation entirely if he’s able to get over the proverbial hump in the 2024 campaign.

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