Is Carolina a Realistic Landing Spot for Bill Belichick?

The Panthers have a chance to make a big splash with its coaching hire.

Author:
Schuyler Callihan
Jan 12, 2024 12:41 PM EST

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It's not all that often that a legendary coach like Bill Belichick hits the open market in the NFL. But on Thursday morning, Belichick and the New England Patriots mutually agreed to part ways after 24 years.

Last week, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reported, "The Carolina Panthers, at a high level, has made informal inquiries regarding (now former) Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and its vacancy."

Early Friday morning, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport also discussed the chances of Carolina being in play for Belichick, citing them as one of two strong possibilities.

"The Carolina Panthers did dig into Bill Belichick a little bit last year before they hired Frank Reich. And that's a rare organization here. There's not that many of them that have a coach and GM opening, so if Bill Belichick still wants to have personnel control and be the head coach. which he has said he'd be willing to work in New England in either model, it is unclear if that'll be the case at another place but that would be one of the rare places that he could have personnel control, be the GM, be the head coach. Atlanta has a GM in Terry Fontenot. The Los Angeles Chargers also have a GM and coach opening. I'd be a little surprised if they went in that direction. Las Vegas, they have interims but I don't see them going in that direction with the Patriot way again."

Although Belichick has had one of the best, if not the best coaching careers in NFL history, it doesn't necessarily mean that success will materialize in Carolina. This is a bigger rebuild than many would like to admit and it's going to take more than one offseason to get this thing fixed.

At age 71, Belichick may not be all that interested in leading the charge of an organization that's in a massive hole. If they are the only ones who enter the mix that offer him the same power he had in New England, then yes, Carolina will be a strong possibility.

If this roster was ready to win now and had just been underachieving, I'd say go for it. But with this being a multi-year process to just get back to being a competitive team. I believe going the Ben Johnson, Bobby Slowik, Mike Macdonald, Frank Smith route is the way to go.