Patriots Country

Patriots Owner Reveals Reason for Firing Bill Belichick

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft spoke out with his reasoning for firing Bill Belichick.

Evan Massey

Jan 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots former head coach Bill Belichick (right) embraces Patriots owner Robert Kraft (left) during a press conference at Gillette Stadium to announce Belichick's exit from the team.
Jan 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots former head coach Bill Belichick (right) embraces Patriots owner Robert Kraft (left) during a press conference at Gillette Stadium to announce Belichick's exit from the team. / Eric Canha-Imagn Images
In this story:

Following the 2023 NFL season, the New England Patriots made the decision to part ways with legendary head coach Bill Belichick. It was a move that shook up the entire NFL.

Belichick seemed like the kind of coach that would be with the Patriots until he decided to walk away. Unfortunately, after some bad years following the departure of Tom Brady, things just weren't working.

Robert Kraft and New England opted to head in a different direction.

Since the move was made, there haven't been many reasons given for the decision. Now, Kraft has dropped some details about his reasoning for the move.

In a recent interview, Kraft spoke out about parting ways with Belichick and how it wasn't an easy decision to make. He also offered a glimpse at the reason behind it.

“I kept him for 24 years. I didn’t enjoy having to fire him. I tried to do it in a classy way. And what he did for us was great. People need to adapt and if they don’t… things can change," Kraft said.

Basically, Kraft is hinting that Belichick was too stuck in his ways and would not adapt to his new players or the changes going on in the NFL.

That was seen on the field. The Patriots continued trying to run the same sytem and things weren't working. It didn't appear that any major adustments were being made either.

Belichick wanted to run things his way. That led to his departure from the team.

New England has moved forward with Jerod Mayo as their new head coach. He has definitely brought a lot of change to the team on both sides of the football. Whether or not those changes are positive and will bring winning back to the Patriots remains to be seen.

As for Belichick, he's waiting his turn for another head coaching job. He's expected to be at the top of the coaching carousel duruing the 2025 NFL offseason.

While Kraft didn't go into too many details, he gave enough to get an idea of why the move was made. It's at least something for fans to look into and understand more about the thought process of firing arguably the greatest coach of all-time.

Make sure you bookmark New England Patriots on SI for the latest news, exclusive interviews, film breakdowns and so much more!

Published
Evan Massey
EVAN MASSEY

Home/News